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news.Tumours are able to recruit white blood cells (macrophages) in large numbers to protect them from the effect of an experimental drug called combretastatin-A4P (CA4P), designed to block the supply of blood, according to a study conducted by the scientists from Cancer Research UK.
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CA4P is a type of drug called a vascular disrupting agent (VDA) as it selectively blocks blood vessels in tumors causing widespread tumor death.
The study showed that after treatments with CA4P, tumors in mice begin to release a protein called CXCL12, which recruits white blood cells from the bloodstream into the treated tumor where they then help to block the effect of the drug on the blood vessels and to encourage tumor growth.
CA4P is an experimental type of drug that targets only the blood vessels that supply cancer cells.
It is currently in trials for a number of cancers to find out the best dose and how effective it is.
By blocking the receptor for CXCL12 on these white blood cells, so stopping their recruitment by the tumor, treatment with CA4P was better at slowing tumor growth than when the VDA was used alone.
University of Sheffield Cancer Research UK funded scientist Claire Lewis said they know that drugs that block blood vessels in tumours have a really damaging effect on the cancer, but this is often only short-lived and tumors start to re-grow.
"By expanding our research into what prompts macrophages to drive a tumour’s re-growth after therapy we should now be able to find ways of blocking their effects and making such treatments more effective," Lewis said.