Laureano Simón, CEO of Oncomatryx, explains on “La Ventana” how this new treatment could reverse metastasis.
A Spanish drug offers new hope to patients with metastatic cancer
There is still no cure for cancer, but investment in research and technology is making it possible for many cancer patients to enjoy a better quality of life every day. A small Spanish company is an example of this. Oncomatryx has just received €12.5 million from the European Union to develop a clinical trial based on a drug developed entirely in Spain, which is achieving very promising results in the fight against metastatic cancers where other treatments have failed.
Laureano Simón, Doctor of Biochemical Sciences and CEO of Oncomatryx, explained on La Ventana that the novelty of this drug is its target: “We are not targeting the tumor itself, but its microenvironment.” This is composed of a physical barrier that prevents conventional therapies from reaching the tumor and at the same time generates an immunosuppressed environment that also prevents the patient’s immune system from attacking it.
This is where Oncomatryx’s drug comes in: “We are introducing a new generation of drugs that attack this environment in a clean, specific, and powerful way,” said the CEO on La Ventana.
The cells that make up this shield have a name: fibroblasts. One of the roles these cells play is metastasis. “They are the first to migrate from the tumor to the bloodstream,” Simón explained. Once they reach the target organ, fibroblasts leave the area so that the tumor can attach itself. “When we attack fibroblasts, we not only attack the primary tumor, but also those metastatic niches,” the doctor continued.
This kind of shield that protects the tumor was discovered by chance. “What we were looking for were markers to preventively diagnose cancer,” Simón said.
Laureano Simón emphasized that “the best results” have been obtained in patients with pancreatic and liver cancer, in both cases with metastases in the liver and lungs. “There is a group of people who have a much better life expectancy,” recalled the doctor of biochemistry.
In addition, this drug is usually administered to patients for whom conventional treatments have ceased to work. The side effects are minimal, so “it is not just a prolongation of life, but a prolongation with life expectancy,” Simón clarified.
In some cases, metastasis has been reversed in patients. Laureano Simón recalled that this happened “in a case of liver metastasis, which has the worst prognosis.” Thanks to the drug created by Oncomatryx, this type of metastasis disappeared in the pancreatic cancer patient. “What remains is to eliminate the primary cancer from the body,” Simón concluded.
