On November 15, 2022 Propanc Biopharma, Inc. (OTC Pink: PPCB) ("Propanc" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel cancer treatments for patients suffering from recurring and metastatic cancer, reported that the Company’s lead product candidate, PRP, could enhance the effects of novel therapies like immune checkpoint inhibitors that can have a role in pancreatic cancer treatment (Press release, Propanc, NOV 15, 2022, View Source [SID1234624108]). Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder, Dr. Julian Kenyon MD, MB, ChB, predicts therapies can enhance the patient’s immune response to fight solid tumors by enabling detection of specific tumor cells within the body that were previously undetected. For example, once considered a "non-immunogenic" cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) has been identified with upregulated immune networks and immune checkpoint molecule expression in its tumor microenvironment and is now redefined as an immunogenic cancer, according to the World Journal of Gastroenterology, November 21, 2016.
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PDA is a highly aggressive malignancy, characterized by delayed diagnosis and treatment resistance. At the time of clinical detection, most PDA cancers are either advanced locally, or metastatic, i.e., ineligible for surgical resection and with a typical five-year survival in the single digits. One of the reasons for the poor effect of treatment is the ability of PDA to evade host immune surveillance. The tumor microenvironment of PDA is composed of a dense fibrotic stroma of extracellular (outside cell) matrix components and a variety of inflammatory cells. "This is where PRP comes in, and, as we understand, it can potentially expose the tumors and lower drug resistance, whereas before they were largely impenetrable," said Dr. Kenyon.
PRP was recently reported as having a significant impact on the tumor microenvironment by impact inhibiting, slowing, or reversing tumor development through acting as an anti-tumor agent, decreasing tumor cell proliferation, developing a non-malignant phenotype (observable characteristics) and promoting cell adhesion (sticking close to one another) and differentiation (cell specialization rather than stem cell-like). To accomplish this, PRP targets specific pathways like TGFβ, critical for tumor development and prevention of immunorecognition by the body’s own immune system. Furthermore, numerous pathways affected downstream are also impacted by altering the tumor surface, which is often resistant to immune regulators due to the impenetrability of the tumor walls.
"Immune checkpoint inhibitors have only recently been investigated for solid tumors like PDA and we are now only realizing the importance of the immune checkpoint inhibition in these cancers. PRP, which is a combination of two proenzymes, trypsinogen and chymotrysinogen, has been shown to impact the tumor microenvironment dramatically, which could have significant implications for other treatment modalities, such as chemotherapy, but also immune checkpoint inhibitors, which could result in improved effects," said Dr. Kenyon. "As we progress along the clinical development pathway, we will continue to explore combinatorial treatments that, if proven clinically beneficial, could have a marked impact on the response rates of approaches like immune checkpoint therapy and lead to improved benefits for sufferers."
PRP is a mixture of two proenzymes, trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen from bovine pancreas, administered by intravenous injection. A synergistic ratio of 1:6 inhibits growth of most tumor cells. Examples include kidney, ovarian, breast, brain, prostate, colorectal, lung, liver, uterine and skin cancers.