This is a discovery that could significantly advance oncological medicine: a very ordinary treatment, prescribed for decades to calm asthma and hay fever, would have the potential to become a formidable weapon against some of the most aggressive cancers. A team of researchers has just used it to develop a strategy that disarms tumors and awakens our immune system.
At the heart of this advance is montelukast, a molecule well known to allergy sufferers. By conducting laboratory experiments, scientists discovered that this drug had the surprising ability to block a specific protein, called CysLTR1, which is regularly hijacked by cancer cells to silence our own defenses. By neutralizing this signal, the treatment breaks down the resistance of tumors.
In our blood, neutrophils are white blood cells that normally act as elite soldiers. Faced with a threat, they directly attack diseased cells or call for reinforcement. Unfortunately, cancer knows how to defend itself, and tumors secrete chemicals that hijack these white blood cells, transforming them into “sleeper agents” serving the disease. Instead of destroying the tumor, they protect it and even help it spread throughout the body.
It is this fascinating mechanism that a study relayed by the scientific media Live Science has just deciphered. Dr. Bin Zhang, professor of cancer immunology at Northwestern University (Illinois), explains the potential of this discovery: “VYou can reuse these drugs to reprogram these neutrophils to become immune-boosting cells again, which sensitizes tumors to treatments.» In short, the drug wakes up sleeping soldiers so that they can return to combat.
Breaking the resistance of tumors
The results obtained in the laboratory are particularly encouraging. In tests carried out on mice suffering from breast, colon or melanoma cancers, the combined action of this treatment and immunotherapy gave excellent results. Tumors that failed to respond to standard treatments began to shrink dramatically, significantly extending the subjects’ survival.
This approach is a major glimmer of hope for patients with triple negative breast cancer, a form of the disease that is particularly aggressive and often completely invisible to current immunotherapies. Doctor Bin Zhang does not hide his enthusiasm: “There are not many options available for treatment-resistant patients. But now, using this medication, it seems they are starting to respond to it again.»
One of the immense advantages of this line of research is that montelukast has already been available in pharmacies since the end of the 1990s. This could greatly accelerate the implementation of the first clinical trials on humans, since the tolerance profile of the molecule has already been documented for decades by health authorities. Additionally, the identified protein could serve as a marker to know in advance whether a patient is at risk of rejecting immunotherapy.
However, caution remains necessary before seeing this treatment arrive in hospitals. Experts point out that changing the doses of an existing treatment requires strict monitoring, especially since montelukast can sometimes cause side effects on mood. Researchers are therefore already exploring other avenues, such as the creation of a specific antibody capable of targeting the protein even more precisely and securely.
