The LRG helped fund research by the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) to screen a library of FDA-approved anticancer drugs that previously wouldn’t have been considered as a treatment for GIST. UPCI scientists have been surprised at the number of potential possibilities to try if the cancer becomes resistant to standard drug treatment.
The research findings were published in the February 15th issue of Cancer Research. These findings demonstrate that high-throughput screening of already FDA-approved drugs can identify new therapies that could impact GIST.
“This is known as ‘drug repurposing,’ and it is an increasingly promising way to speed up the development of treatments for cancers that do not respond well to standard therapies,” said senior author Anette Duensing, M.D., assistant professor of pathology at UPCI. “Drug repurposing builds upon previous research and development efforts, and detailed information about the drug formulation and safety is usually available, meaning that it can be ready for clinical trials much faster than a brand-new drug.”
Attached is a copy of the manuscript published in the journal of Cancer Research at the beginning of this year. Here is a copy of the press release that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center released which mentions the LRG’s involvement in funding this research. Click here to download the PDF of the manuscript.
