Fibroblasts are responsible for creating and maintaining the extracellular matrix that normally supports all the connective tissues. Tumors have the ability to recruit fibroblasts (Cancer Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs)) that develop a fibrotic microenvironment that supports their growth while protecting them from the immune system. This fibroblast-generated scar tissue is associated with the reduced efficiency of chemotherapies and poor outcome of treatment.

A new publication in Nature Cancer provides evidence that reducing scar tissue with the PXS-5505 small molecule inhibitor can help to treat pancreatic cancer by making it more accessible to chemotherapy treatment. PXS-5505 is an inhibitor of the lysyl oxidase family of enzymes which causes collagen to build up around tumors creating fibrotic scar tissue that acts as a barrier inhibiting the access of chemotherapy agents. The study offers exciting evidence that therapeutic strategies that involve the targeting of tumor-associated stroma can offer several benefits to the treatment of cancer including improved chemotherapy responses, reduced metastatic burden and more importantly prolonged survival.

Read the full article in Nature Cancer 

 

 

 

Extending on our previous work on the treatment of arthritis with combination therapies of dasatinib with subtherapeutic doses of anti-TNF biologics, we explore here in this collaborative research project the interplay of inflammation and senescence in the context of combination treatments.

Published in Mechanisms of Ageing and Development 2023, 214, 111856.

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In the frame of a collaborative project co-financed by the European Union and Greek national funds (BreastCaRANKL project code: T1EDK-02829), Biomedcode has collaborated with Dr. Douni’s lab at BSRC Al. Fleming and the companies Bioemtech and Protavio to develop an innovative human-RANKL dependent breast cancer mouse model aiming to study RANKL dependent breast cancer mechanisms and to establish novel integrated preclinical platforms with modules of advanced imaging and molecular analysis for the evaluation of human therapeutics targeting cancer.

Published in Cancers 2023, 15(15), 4006.

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In the frame of a collaborative drug development project scientists from Biomedcode and BSRC Al. Fleming using bioinformatics tools, have repurposed the neuroleptic drug amisulpride for the reversal of the pathogenic expression signature of synovial fibroblasts and the treatment of arthritis pathology.

Published in JCI Insight 2023 May 8;8(9):e165024. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.165024.

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