While new treatments like immunotherapies and targeted treatments are helping to improve survival rates for lung cancer, we still need to find new ways to tackle this devastating disease. Thanks to our Curestarters, Dr Alejandro Vaquero and his team in Spain have made a breakthrough that has added a 'crucial piece of information' to the lung cancer puzzle. They believe this exciting finding will help to open up important possibilities for designing new lung cancer treatments.
We believe that our work paves the way for the identification of novel therapeutic approaches for lung cancer which will significantly improve the quality of life and extend the survival of patients in the future. Your support is not just funding research, it’s fueling discoveries that bring us closer to better treatments and, ultimately, a cure. Thank you for being an integral part of this journey. Your contributions truly make a difference!
Why is lung cancer research like this so important?
A closer look at the role of SIRT7 in lung cancer
Dr Vaquero and his team have been studying a tiny protein called SIRT7, which is found in many types of cell - both cancerous and healthy. It usually sits in the nucleus, which you may have heard referred to as the 'command centre' of the cell.
Previously, scientists knew that SIRT7 was part of a huge, messy network of proteins and molecules that all work together to keep cancer cells growing, making it a viable target for lung cancer treatments. But without understanding exactly what role it played, those treatments were never as effective as hoped.
Dr Vaquero's team found that SIRT7 interacts with another important protein that usually works to suppress cancer tumours. The interaction with SIRT7 causes this second protein to degrade, which prevents it from doing its important work to stop tumours.
This suggests that targeting just this one single point in the network of proteins connected to SIRT7 could be hugely effective.
What could this link between SIRT7 and tumour suppression mean for the future?
Researchers now need to carry out many more experiments to further explore the potential of SIRT7 as a target for lung cancer drugs, and find out exactly how it interacts with other proteins. But this crucial finding helps us understand the issues with current lung cancer treatments, and puts us on the right path towards new, better ones.
If further studies are successful, this work could one day lead to ground-breaking new strategies for treating people with lung cancer, offering much-needed hope to the millions of people affected around the world.
Current therapeutic approaches for lung cancer:
Lung cancer patients may currently be offered various treatments, depending on the stage and grade of their cancer and its particular type. These treatments include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. Often a combination of these treatments will be recommended - for example non-small cell lung cancer (the most common type of lung cancer) is often treated with a combination of chemotherapy and surgery.
For some patients, particularly if their cancer has spread, there may be no effective treatment. Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer worldwide, so more research like this is vital to help discover new cures.
How could this research lead to a new therapeutic approach?
We can’t cure what we don’t understand. International cancer research like this gives us crucial new information that could be a stepping stone towards new therapeutic approaches for lung cancer.
Understanding more about the SIRT7 protein and the other proteins it interacts with gives researchers the ability to explore potential new therapeutics targeting these proteins. This would open up much needed new options for lung cancer patients around the world.
Your lung cancer FAQs:
What are current therapeutic approaches for lung cancer?
Common lung cancer treatments include chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and targeted treatments. Often a combination approach is used such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Every patient is different, and so is every cancer, so oncology teams will recommend the best treatment plan based on a number of factors including the cancer type and whether the cancer has spread.
What is SIRT7 and why is it important in cancer research?
SIRT7 is an example of an oncogene - a mutated gene which has the potential to cause cancer. The SIRT7 gene is responsible for producing the SIRT7 protein, which is over-expressed in multiple cancer types, included lung cancer. Cancer researchers are working hard to understand how exactly proteins like SIRT7 are involved in the development of cancer because, if we know this, we could find a way to stop it happening.
What are the survival rates for lung cancer?
Lung cancer is the most deadly cancer worldwide. In the UK around 1 in 10 people will survive a lung cancer diagnosis for 10 years or more. Outlook depends on the stage of the lung cancer when it is diagnosed - the more it has spread the harder it is to cure. We urgently need more research to understand lung cancer and how to treat it better.
Why is lung cancer often diagnosed late?
Some of the symptoms of lung cancer include a cough, tiredness and shortness of breath. Patients often mistake these symptoms for something else or do not think that it is anything serious. Unfortunately this means that by the time some patients do see a doctor, their lung cancer has already spread and it is much harder to treat.
If you have a cough that does not go away after three weeks, a long-standing cough that gets worse, chest infections that keep coming back or persistent breathlessness or fatigue please see your doctor.
Are there different types of lung cancer?
Yes, there are various types of lung cancer. The two main types are non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), so-called because of the cells that they originate from. As a cancer research charity, we fund research into any type of lung cancer, so that one day no life will be cut short from this deadly disease.
How can I support further lung cancer research?
Worldwide Cancer Research funds the best ideas looking for new cures for any type of cancer. This includes a lot of vital research into lung cancer. Dr Niall Kenneth and his team in Liverpool are investigating if they can ‘suffocate’ lung cancers without harming the healthy cells around them. Dr Federica Benvenuti in Italy is hoping to better understand how cancer cells communicate with other cells around them, and find new clues towards improved treatments for patients with lung cancer.
You can help support lung cancer research like this by becoming a Curestarter today.
Join our united effort to stop cancer.
There are so many different ways to support our search for new cures. Will you join the 90,000+ Curestarters who are already helping us get closer to a day when no life is cut short by cancer?