The Cancer Research Technology (CRT) Pioneer Fund has invested in the development of a promising new class of drugs for blood cancer. The funding will support Cancer Research UK scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, who are designing the drugs, to treat patients with diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (pictured), a subtype of non‐Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The drugs will target a protein called B‐cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6), which plays an important role in maintaining levels of antibody‐secreting B cells in the blood, and is an essential part of the body’s immune defences. Research shows that BCL6 is overactive in patients with diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma and that this helps drive cancer growth. This suggests that drugs designed to inhibit BCL6 could help to treat the disease.
Non‐Hodgkin’s lymphoma affects around 13,400 people in the UK each year and around 4800 people die from the disease. Diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma is the most common type of non‐Hodgkin’s lymphoma, accounting for about 40% of cases.
Professor Paul Workman, chief executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: “Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is a fast‐growing and all‐too‐often deadly cancer. Current therapies for the disease have serious side effects and many patients relapse.
“The support from the CRT Pioneer Fund will help us to make progress with this challenging project, with the aim of designing a whole new class of potential cancer drugs that target BCL6 – a protein that is crucial for the cancer’s rapid progression.”