RiXOVA- new approach of cancer treatment attacking tumour defences on multiple fronts

Solid tumours are not simply a collection of rogue cells, but rather they are complex self-supporting ecosystems utilising many strategies to promote their own survival. The cancerous cells are, in themselves, vulnerable to attack both from the body?s own immune system and from chemotherapy, and it is the tumour defences that allow them to survive and multiply. Successful pharmaceutical treatment of solid tumours requires both the killing of cancerous cells and methods of bypassing tumour defences. For a number of difficult to treat cancers, including pancreatic adenocarcinoma (which has a 5 year survival of less than 5%), there is an up-regulation of dense extracellular matrix (ECM) surrounding the tumour that acts as a physical barrier and significantly reduces the chances of either chemotherapy drugs or the body?s own immune system getting access to the cancerous cells at the heart of the tumour. The importance of this barrier is well accepted, indeed it has been described as the cancer fortress, but there is a lack of drugs that aim to breach the fortress by directly targeting the barrier to increase its permeability. The direct barrier function is not the only tumour defence arising from the extracellular matrix. It has recently become clear that a dense and stiff matrix around solid tumours is associated with poorer response to treatment and lower survival levels. This is because cells are sensitive to the mechanical properties of the tissue they are imbedded in and the stiff matrix actively signals to the cells to increase their aggressive cancerous nature in a self-reinforcement loop. RiXOVA is unique in that it directly targets the dense, stiff matrix of solid tumours in two ways. Firstly RiXOVA reduces the barrier properties of the matrix to allow chemotherapy agents and the immune system better access to attack the cancerous cells and secondly RiXOVA reduces matrix stiffness thereby disabling a central mechanism for tumour self-reinforcement.