Aussie scientists report new way to fight major skin cancer

SYDNEY, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Australian scientists on Wednesday said they have found a new way to help fight melanoma skin cancer, pointing to better treatment of the major disease in patients who do not respond to targeted therapies.

The novel method involves using drugs to inhibit two separate proteins to "effectively kill melanoma cells by inducing apoptosis", or a process of cellular self-destruction that takes place when a cell is no longer needed, according to a statement from the Centenary Institute medical research facility.

The treatment strategy has the potential to benefit a subgroup of patients who do not respond to targeted therapies or immunotherapy for melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer responsible for about 1,700 deaths in Australia each year alone, it said.

In the study, researchers inhibited, in combination, the protein MCL1, together with proteins from the bromodomain and extra-terminal family. The proteins are known to have key roles in protecting and supporting melanoma cancer cells inside the body, according to the institute.

"Provoking apoptosis has proven extremely difficult due to the high expression of anti-apoptotic or 'protector' proteins found in melanoma cancer cells," said institute researcher Hsin-Yi Tseng, who led the report of the latest findings.

"These protector proteins help the melanoma cell to survive, thrive, and in some cases to aid resistance against advanced medical drug treatments," she said.

The researchers found that their method was "highly effective at killing melanoma," with the protective abilities of the proteins decreased by the drug inhibitors, inducing the cancer cells to self-destruct, Tseng said.

The findings, published in the International Journal of Cancer, are "highly significant" and offer "a potential new treatment strategy for melanoma patients", according to institute researcher Jessamy Tiffen.

"Up to one half of melanoma patients do not respond to immunotherapy and a majority of patients tend to develop acquired resistance to targeted therapies," Tiffen said.

"Our research examined a large number of human melanoma cell lines as well as use of mouse models. We saw extensive melanoma reduction in both cases which bodes well for the translation of this research into the next stage of development."