Health Rounds: Scientists find way to make breast cancer drug work better for younger women

(This is an excerpt of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we present latest medical studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays.)

By Nancy Lapid

(Reuters) -Researchers appear to have found a solution for breast cancer patients who do not respond well enough to the common treatment tamoxifen, according to results from a German study.

Tamoxifen works by preventing the hormone estrogen from binding to proteins on cancer cell surfaces, keeping the cancer from growing.

To work well, tamoxifen must be converted by the enzyme CYP2D6 into a form called (Z)-endoxifen. But in about a third of patients, levels of that enzyme are genetically low. As a result, the conversion is impaired.

Postmenopausal women can use alternative drugs known as aromatase inhibitors, but those are not an option for younger patients.

In such cases, giving supplemental (Z)-endoxifen compensates for the insufficient conversion of tamoxifen and makes it more effective, researchers reported in Clinical Cancer Research.

In the study, 235 patients with early-stage hormone-dependent breast cancer received either tamoxifen alone or in combination with (Z)-endoxifen, depending on whether tamoxifen was being metabolized appropriately.

The patients receiving combination therapy achieved desired drug concentrations in the blood similar to those found in patients with normal metabolism who received tamoxifen alone.

Side effects were mild and similar in both groups, according to the report.

"With (this approach), we are offering the first effective solution to a long-standing problem: the insufficient effect of tamoxifen in a significant proportion of patients," study leader Dr. Matthias Schwab of the Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology in Stuttgart said in a statement.

A mid-stage trial testing (Z)-endoxifen in premenopausal women with newly diagnosed early-stage hormone-responsive breast cancer is underway in the United States.

Study sponsor Atossa Therapeutics has said it plans to file an application seeking approval with the Food and Drug Administration in 2026.

PILL-SIZED BIO-PRINTERS MAY SOMEDAY HEAL STOMACH ULCERS

Gastrointestinal tract injuries like ulcers or hemorrhages might someday be treated by pill-sized bio-printers that can be guided to the wound sites to print tissue for repairs, researchers say.

The experimental “Magnetic Endoluminal Deposition System,” or MEDS, is designed like a ballpoint pen with a spring tip that releases ink. The device contains a tiny chamber of bio-ink and a spring-plunger mechanism that pushes the material out. Release of the ink is triggered from outside the body by a near-infrared laser beam that safely penetrates the tissues.

As the bio-ink emerges, the capsule is steered by an external magnet mounted on a robotic arm, much like guiding a joystick, the researchers reported in Advanced Science.

The device can later be retrieved orally using magnet guidance, the researchers said.

So far, they have used their device to deposit bio-ink in the gastric tracts of rabbits.

“In our controlled lab experiments, our cell-laden bio-ink retained its structural integrity for over 16 days,” study leader Sanjay Manoharan of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland said in a statement.

His team also hopes to test the method on injured blood vessels and the tissues of the abdominal wall, Manoharan said.

In addition to protecting ulcers from gastric juices, the bio-ink can be combined with medicine or cells to further boost tissue repair, the researchers said.

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(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Editing by Bill Berkrot)