A collaborative research project based in Cork has led to the discovery of a new way of treating oesophageal, gastric and colorectal cancers.

Researchers from University College Cork (UCC), Cork University Hospital and Breakthrough Cancer Research are currently conducting clinical trials using lithium to enhance chemotherapy treatment. The first phase of the trials has just begun in Cork.

The researchers have found that lithium can block cancer cells’ ability to repair the internal damage normally inflicted by chemotherapy. This makes the treatment more effective and reduces the risk of the cancer returning again. Lithium is typically used as a mood stabiliser in the treatment of neurological disorders. It has not been used in chemotherapy before.

Chemotherapy is the most common treatment for gastrointestinal cancers, which are rarely detected early enough for surgical treatment to have much impact. If the first phase of the clinical trials in Cork are successful, the researchers will have discovered a new approach to tackle the problem of cancer cells resisting chemotherapy.

Cork-based charity Breakthrough Cancer Research invested more than €1m in UCC cancer research. The researchers’ work sought to establish the differences between cancer cells that responded to chemotherapy treatment and those that didn’t.

The discovery was made when Dr Tracey O’Donovan, one of the lead scientists working with UCC’s principal investigator at cancer research, Dr Sharon McKenna, set up a series of tests with cells from oesophageal cancer patients.

The researchers found that a cell recycling process called autophagy (self-eating) enabled the cancerous cells to repair themselves and recover. They then found that lithium blocks this ability to repair, which greatly enhances the effectiveness of the chemotherapy treatment. The combination of lithium and chemotherapy killed off the chemo resistant cancer cells and prevented them from returning.

“We were so thrilled to find a combination that could potentially make an impact on the effectiveness of treatment and improve survival. We tested this new Chemo-Lithium combination in several pre-clinical models and found that tumours were being cleared much more effectively than single agent treatments,” O’Donovan said.

Consultant oncologist Prof Seamus O’Reilly, based at Cork University Hospital and Mercy University Hospital, is leading the clinical trials.

“The most difficult part of my job is seeing patients you think are going to respond well to treatment, do badly,” he said. “People whose lives should have been longer, whose cancer should have been cured, or whose suffering should have been less.

“More and more patients are being diagnosed with cancer in Ireland on a daily basis, and we need to extend their lives. Patients don’t fail treatments but treatments sadly do fail patients. We urgently need treatment advances to cure more people and to help those that can’t be cured to live longer and better. That can only be found by investing in ground-breaking cancer research, so I hope people continue to support charities like Breakthrough Cancer Research who help make research like this happen.”

He added, “Many new cancer drug treatments are expensive, limiting their impact as societies and patients struggle to afford them. Lithium is cheap, widely available and could be globally accessible”

“Resistance to chemotherapy is a major challenge for clinicians and devastating for patients. This is a wonderful example of how patient focused research supported by the generosity of the public can translate from the lab into new treatments in the clinic,” said Orla Dolan, CEO of the charity Breakthrough. Over the past 20 years, Breakthrough has brought 8 new treatments successfully to clinical trial.

The research leading to the trial has been published in the PLOS One journal. The Cork researchers’ discovery was announced on World Cancer Day, which occurs today (4 February).

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