BOWEL MELANOMA
NEW TREATMENTS:
• Targeting genetic mutations Later this year patients with a BRAF genetic mutation, that means their cancer is more aggressive, are expected to benefit from a new treatment Braftovi that is expected to be subsidised. It will benefit 1500 bowel cancer patients.
• Immunotherapy Immunotherapy drug Keytruda uses the body’s own immune system to detect and fight cancer cells. It only works for a few hundred patients.
RESEARCH Blood tests
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A blood test to detect shards of cancer DNA in a person’s bloodstream to see if their cancer has returned is being developed by the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. A separate blood test by the CSIRO in collaboration with Flinders University and Australian-founded biotechnology firm Clinical Genomics detects circulating tumour DNA and can detect when bowel cancer returns.
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The SOLARIS trial is testing whether giving vitamin D with chemotherapy and another bowel cancer treatment helps shrink or stabilise bowel cancer in patients with metastatic disease.
Vitamin D • Psychiatric drug
A study has found psychiatric drug lithium can boost stem cells in the gut making them more resistant to cancer cells. A clinical trial is set to take place in the Netherlands.
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US researchers are trialling a vaccine that may help people in early stages.
Vaccine PREVENTION: Lower the screening age
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Bowel cancer can be successfully treated if caught early but only four in 10 people who are eligible take part in the screening program. The cancer is on the rise in young people. Bowel Cancer Australia wants the age at which Australians are screened reduced from 50 to 45.
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The “yuck” factor gets in the way of people collecting stool samples to screen for bowel cancer. A blood test could dramatically lift screening rates. An Australian developed preventive test Colostat is in clinical trials.
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Researchers are trying to identify specific bacteria that could help screen patients for bowel cancer.
• Antibiotics
UK researchers are investigating whether antibiotic use increases bowel cancer risk. Early evidence suggests it may increase the risk of colon cancer by 49 per cent.
Blood tests Gut bacteria NEW TREATMENTS: Immunotherapy
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Half the patients with advanced or metastatic melanoma given a combination of two immunotherapies – Opdivo and Yervoy – are surviving for at least 6.5 years after diagnosis. Doctors hope it could be a cure.
A new immunotherapy called Relatlimab has been found to enhance the tumour fighting response. After 12 months of treatment almost half the patients on the combination therapy had no disease progression; nearly two-thirds of patients on the single therapy had progressed.
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Earlier use of immunotherapies
Stage two and three patients are being treated with immunotherapies. Research shows giving patients immunotherapy six weeks before their surgery is also a credible strategy.
RESEARCH
• Personal immunotherapy Melanoma Institute researchers are testing patients’ tumours to see if they’re going to respond to standard therapy. If not, they determine the best approach for that individual, including experimental treatments.
• Personalised MRNA vaccine Melanoma Institute of Australia researchers are working on this with Moderna, who produced a Covid vaccine.
• Targeting certain genes Therapies that target a gene that encodes a protein called BRAF are helping 40 per cent of melanoma patients.
PREVENTION:
• New diagnostic test
A Melanoma Institute study is using genome data to develop a diagnostic test that improves the accuracy of diagnosis.
• Artificial intelligence Research is under way to use AI to examine skin lesion images to pick up melanoma earlier.