Sea May Hold Cancer Cure

OPTATIO (OPtimizing TArgets and Therapeutics In high risk and refractOry Multiple Myeloma) is a consortium of twelve European partners, including Oncotyrol. The Multiple Myeloma is addressed by collaborative efforts in the OPTATIO consortium because it is a very complex and still incurable disease. Therefore it is important that several countries and institutions share their know-how and resources to tackle one of the eight most lethal cancers in Europe. 

Up to now, research on multiple myeloma cancer cells has frequently considered them as isolated entities. However, this approach disregards the fact that the environment of the bone marrow, in particular the stromal bone tissue, the immune cells and the connective tissue cells, protects cancer cells with the aid of different substances in a so-called niche. In this biochemical shelter drugs are often not effective in patients although they have been successful in laboratory tests on isolated cancer cells. Or they are ineffective in the long term because the cancer cells become resistant. 

Oncotyrol as one of the consortium partners develops test systems comprising cancer as well as connective tissue cells and thus coming closer to the actual conditions in the human body. On such “in-vivo like assays” Oncotyrol scientists from Prof. Lukas Huber’s team have recently tested hundreds of marine extracts and also pure substances of the Spanish biopharmaceutical company PharmaMar who is also a consortium partner.