Adelaide researchers make significant breakthrough in prostate cancer drugs

Local researchers have made a potentially significant breakthrough in combating an aggressive cancer – starving it into submission without harming nearby healthy cells.

Adelaide researchers have made a potentially significant breakthrough in combating aggressive prostate cancer, starving it into submission without harming nearby healthy cells.

Flinders University and UniSA scientists published their promising new strategy in the British Journal of Cancer, showing the role a new drug CDKI-73 could play to fight drug-resistant prostate cancer that defies conventional therapies.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australian men and causes more than 3300 deaths a year. The disease frequently evolves into aggressive forms that do not respond to standard hormone therapies.

The study led by Flinders University Associate Professor Luke Selth and UniSA Professor Shudong Wang investigated targeting a protein, CDK9, which plays a crucial role in the growth and survival of prostate cancer cells.

Flinders University cancer researcher Associate Professor Luke Selth.

They are testing whether the new drug could inhibit the protein and overcome the cancer’s resistance to current treatments.

“Our research demonstrates that CDKI-73 potently blocks the growth of prostate cancer, even aggressive subtypes of the disease that are resistant to current treatments,” Prof Selth said.

“Importantly, CDKI-73 targets cancer cells specifically without harming normal cells and its potential as an oral capsule makes it an attractive treatment option.”

UniSA cancer researcher Professor Shudong Wang.

The research used a variety of models including patient tumour samples which revealed the effectiveness of the inhibitor and provided new insights into its action.

Prof Wang developed CDKI-73 which is now being investigated in Phase 2 clinical trials in patients with relapsed and therapy-resistant acute myeloid leukaemia, an aggressive blood cancer.

“This study demonstrates that CDKI-73 is a promising candidate for treating solid tumours such as prostate cancer,” she said.

“Our proof-of-principle study is an important step towards future clinical trials and these findings will inform future studies in the use and efficacy of CDKI-73 as a prostate cancer treatment.”

Originally published as Adelaide researchers make significant breakthrough in prostate cancer drugs