It is morning at Radiumhospitalet in Oslo. Guri de Lange has come from Bergen to meet cancer researcher Jon Amund Kyte. She was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in 2014, but was symptom-free for a long time. In 2018, she relapsed. – A shadow was discovered in my lung. A biopsy was taken and I was confirmed that there was spread. Until now, there has been little to do for women who have had this aggressive form of breast cancer spread. Mortality is high, and life expectancy after dispersal is only one year. But in 2017, cancer researchers at Oslo University Hospital set themselves a goal. They wanted to try something new to give women with an incurable form of cancer hope. 68 patients were invited into a test project named ALICE. It would turn out to be very promising. Triple negative breast cancer affects around 15 percent of all women who get breast cancer. The form of cancer can spread quickly, and also affects younger women. Breast cancer and triple-negative breast cancer Breast cancer The most common form of cancer in women New cases 2021: Women: 3991, men: 32 Five-year relative survival (2017-2021): Women: 92.3 per cent Deaths (2021): Women: 591, men: 10 Triple-negative breast cancer One of the subgroups of breast cancer Occurs in approximately 15 percent of patients Somewhat more aggressive and can spread more often than the most commonly occurring type of breast cancer The cancer cells lack “receivers” (receptors) that can bind to estrogen and progesterone, while the protein HER2 is not present (or only small amounts are present) in the cells. This means that estrogen does not have a direct effect on the growth of cancer cells Source: brystkreftforeningen.no Have a poor immune system The reason for the poor prognosis lies in the patient’s immune system not being able to mobilize in line with others’. They therefore have no effect from current immunotherapy. Therefore, the idea was to combine two methods to get better results, says senior physician and cancer researcher Jon Amund Kyte. – We wanted to both remove the brakes on the immune system and give gas at the same time. Senior doctor and cancer researcher Jon Amund Kyte was very happy when he saw the results of the patient study against aggressive breast cancer. Photo: Lars Håkon Pedersen / news The researchers did this by removing a brake with immunotherapy, and at the same time stimulating the immune system with chemotherapy. They could do that with preparations that are off the shelf today. Of the 68 participants, 40 received the new treatment, while the rest received chemotherapy and saline. No one knew who got what. Neither do the doctors. Guri de Lange was one of the women who was invited into the study. – I think it was important to participate in the research, even if I wouldn’t have gotten results from it myself, she says. The ALICE study Blind study of treatment against triple negative breast cancer with distant spread, an aggressive form of cancer with a high mortality rate. 68 patients participated for a period of more than five years. 3 out of 5 patients received immunotherapy in combination with chemotherapy The rest only received chemotherapy The placebo code was opened in the summer of 2022 The result shows that 1 in 7 patients who have received immunotherapy have had a long-term improvement. Published internationally in Nature Medicine in December 2022 The study was conducted in Norway at Radiumhospitalet and Ullevål hospital, St. Olav in Trondheim, Stavanger University Hospital, and in Denmark at Vejle Hospital and Rigshospitalet (Copenhagen) A so-called phase II study – which aims to show the effect of therapy and doses Surprised by the result This summer, five years after the trial started, they opened the codes and were able to measure the health status of the patients against the treatment they had received. The result was better than they had dared to hope for. Of those who had received the new treatment method, one in two had some effect, and seven experienced long-term improvement. And although many of those who had received the treatment do not show any improvement, the outcome is still sensational, Kyte believes. – It is gratifying to see that things went so much better with some of the patients, and it provides a basis for moving forward with developing the method. In particular, it is important that we saw an effect in patients who did not previously have an immune-activated tumour. He now has hope of being able to treat triple negative breast cancer, although the road to a fully approved treatment method may be long. – If this can be confirmed in several studies, it may also be important for patients with other forms of cancer. Arousing attention and joy The ALICE study has quickly been noticed outside Norway. On Thursday, it was published in the leading international journal Nature Medicine. The results are so good that the recognized journal would speed up publication. – It has been well received and we are presenting it at the same time at an international conference for breast cancer, says Kyte. Here at home, the Cancer Association’s leader Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross is enthusiastic on behalf of women with a form of cancer that until now has been fatal. Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross at the Cancer Society welcomes a method for treating aggressive breast cancer. Photo: Eskil Wie Furunes / news – This shows that research is useful. Here, a group with a serious form of cancer can receive a treatment offer. There are many different types of cancer, and this group has so far had very little progress, a poor prognosis and a low survival rate. This is therefore an important breakthrough, says Ross. She herself knows several women with triple negative breast cancer. – These are younger women who of course want to live, and therefore these results give extra hope. Felt that she had received the medicine During the ALICE project, Guri de Lange has traveled every two weeks to Stavanger University Hospital for treatments. As time passed and she did not get worse, she got the feeling that she had to be in the group that received the active immunotherapy. She is still in good shape and has not had a relapse. Guri de Lange is one of 68 participants in the patient study of cancer researcher Jon Amund Kyte. Photo: Lasr Håkon Pedersen / news – Presumably I would not have lived longer if I had not received immunotherapy. I just had to deal with that. But it was also important for me to contribute to developing the medicine, she says. At Radiumhospitalet in Oslo, Guri has had a chat with senior physician and cancer researcher Jon Amund Kyte. He knows that Guri had a very poor prospect of recovery without the experimental treatment. – It’s really great when we see the effect this has had. She is not only better, but also in a full-time job, and seems to have a good quality of life, says Kyte.
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New treatment for breast cancer attracts international attention – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
