Anti-tumour effects of the hepatitis drug propagermanium on breast cancer via immunostimulation.

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K17556
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 55010:General surgery and pediatric surgery-related
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: Ando Yuki 九州大学, 大学病院, 医員 (50869568)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 乳がん / ドラッグリポジショニング / プロパゲルマニウム / 免疫賦活化 / CCL2

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, blood samples and tumour tissue from the clinical trial were analysed. Multi-cytokine chemokines were measured in blood samples and cytokines that showed changes in the PG-treated group were identified. RNA sequencing analysis of tumour tissue showed increased CD8 expression in the PG-treated group, which was also confirmed by immunohistochemical staining. Breast cancer cells were transplanted into mice and validated in mouse experiments, and similar results were obtained by immunohistochemical staining.
The mechanism of immunostimulation by PG in tumour tissue is thought to be the activation of CD8-positive T cells under the influence of cytokine chemokines, which were found to change in the PG-treated group, and will be investigated in the future.

Free Research Field

乳腺外科

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本邦において悪性腫瘍は3大死因の一つである。近年、ある疾患に有効な治療薬から、別の疾患に有効な薬効を見つけ出すドラッグリポジショニングが開発期間の短縮や医療費の抑制の点で注目されている。今回肝炎治療薬であるプロパゲルマニウムを乳がんに対する抗腫瘍効果およびメカニズムを検討した。今後乳がんでの臨床応用が期待される。