Cancer drug promise for treating asthma at root of disease

Melbourne researchers have used an anti-cancer drug to “prevent and reverse” inflammatory damage in the lungs of mice with asthma, paving the way to a first potential treatment to target the cause of the disease in humans.

An anti-cancer drug has emerged as the first potential asthma treatment that targets the cause of the disease, rather than just the symptoms.

Immunology researchers at Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research have been able to “completely prevent and reverse” inflammatory damage in the lungs of mice with asthma, by rewiring the immune system.

The drug — which is already being used to treat a range of cancers — works by switching off the rampant inflammation that drives and worsens asthma. The researchers are now preparing to test the drug in human cells, before a clinical trial.

About 2.7 million Australians have asthma, and Melbourne — as the world’s allergy capital — boasts one of the highest rates of disease internationally.

In an asthma attack, the airways become narrow and inflamed in response to an allergen or environmental trigger, causing wheezing, breathlessness and chest tightness.

About 2.7 million Australians have asthma, and Melbourne — as the world’s allergy capital — boasts one of the highest rates of disease internationally.

Co-lead researcher Dr Christine Keenan said unlike other research groups around the world who were targeting the factors released in the airways during asthma, the WEHI team was targeting the DNA of immune cells to stop the inflammation.

“T cells are the central orchestrators of the allergic inflammation, and we found that when they get activated they turn on the enzyme EZH2,” she said. “This enzyme is crucial to the inflammatory response. The idea was if we could inhibit this enzyme, it would suppress the inflammation associated with asthma.”

MORE: MEASLES ALERT FOR MELBOURNE SUBURBS

AURORA AUSTRALIS: HOW AND WHERE TO SEE IT

In a series of mouse studies, they showed that shutting down this enzyme both prevented and reversed lung inflammation.

“They are strong findings, that’s the really exciting thing,” Dr Keenan said.

“I’ve worked in asthma research for a long time and I’ve never seen a treatment wipe out the allergic immune response as dramatically as that.”

The study was published in the journal JCI Insight.

Given that EZH2 inhibitor drugs are already known to be safe and well tolerated in clinical trials for a range of cancers including blood, ovarian, breast and prostate, Dr Keenan said this would help fast-track its potential route to the pharmacist shelf.

National Asthma Council Australia chief Siobhan Brophy said just as there were different triggers for different people, current asthma medications didn’t work for everyone. “Asthma medications can be expensive and a hassle to take, even when they work well,” Ms Brophy said.

“Having new treatment options means we have a better chance of getting the right match for each person, and help everyone with asthma breathe well.”

The study was largely funded by the American Asthma Foundation.

[e-mail]