Report highlights potential of innovative cancer therapies
Innovative cancer therapies have 'significant potential' for the treatment of tumours within the next decade, according to a new study from STOA, the European Parliament's Scientific Technology Options Assessment group. However, the report, entitled 'Gene, vaccine and immunotherapies against cancer: new approaches to an old problem', highlights the fact that a number of challenges to the development and exploitation of the therapies remain. The goal of the study was to provide an overview of the latest research into cancer therapies and analyse the status of cancer research in the EU's research framework programmes. 'All the new approaches to cancer therapy are linked by the scientific finding that cancer is a disease resulting from the accumulation of genetic modifications within a cell,' the report explains. The new therapies therefore focus on altering cancer cells and also activating the patient's immune system to fight the cancer. All of the therapies discussed in the report are still in the early stages of development, so in the near future traditional treatments such as chemotherapy will still be important. According to the report, the new therapies are 'well-represented in the EU research programmes and funding in European Framework Programmes FP6 and FP7'. The authors welcome in particular the fact that under FP7, the clinical aspects of cancer research will be reinforced, and the improved coordination of cancer research in Europe which began under FP6 will be carried forward. The new Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) on innovative medicines is also mentioned. However, there are a number of challenges to the further development and exploitation of these exciting new therapies, the report warns. Many of these new treatments are highly individual or even personalised, involving the manipulation of an individual patient's own cells. This makes them extremely cost-intensive, meaning their use could place a significant burden on public health systems. The authors of the report also note that drug approval procedures are not suitable for vaccine therapies. This issue needs 'urgent attention' if research is to continue at an appropriate speed, they warn. Another area where action is needed is clinical trials. 'The standard clinical study designs used for oncology drug development are based on criteria suitable for conventional chemotherapy with substantial toxicity, yet they are less appropriate for cancer vaccines,' the report reads. Furthermore, since the introduction of common EU regulations in this field, the number of clinical cancer vaccine trials in Europe has fallen. 'The regulations obstruct researchers practically as well as economically in developing more complex cancer vaccines,' the report states. 'They hinder expansion of early clinical testing, and ultimately delay discovery of new effective treatments for cancer.' According to recent figures from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), in 2006 there were an estimated 3.2 million new cases of cancer (up from 2.9 million in 2004) in Europe and 1.7 million deaths.