Researchers are investigating whether a common cholesterol drug could be repurposed to treat HPV-positive cervical cancer.
CLEVELAND — Fenofibrate, patented in 1969 and in medical use since 1975, is well-established as a cholesterol-lowering treatment. However, University Hospitals scientists believe it may also have the potential to shrink HPV-related cancer tumors.
“We are very excited to move this into a clinical trial setting, to see whether or not the dramatic cures that we’re seeing in the pre-clinical setting can translate to patients with cancer,” said Dr. Quintin Pan, deputy director of research at UH Seidman Cancer Center.
The research team aims to determine if this medication could potentially replace one of the most challenging cancer treatments.
“The clinical trial that we’re currently working on is to replace chemotherapy, to see whether or not this cholesterol drug — fenofibrate — has anti-cancer activity in humans,” Pan explained.
Pre-clinical research conducted by the UH team showed that fenofibrate performed as well against HPV-positive cancers as the conventional chemotherapy drug cisplatin. The drug appears to overcome the effects of HPV-positive oncoproteins and helps restore the function of the p53 tumor suppressor gene — often referred to as the “guardian of the genome.”
“It stands to reason that if we can prevent the HPV-associated oncoproteins from lowering p53 levels, we should be able to restore the potent anti-cancer activity of this gene,” said Dr. Wendi Quinn O’Neill, research scientist at Seidman and lead author of the recent study published in the journal Cancers.
Interestingly, the research also found that fenofibrate seems to “re-program” the micro-environment of the HPV-positive tumor, with treated mice showing collections of immune cells infiltrating the tumor. In some cases, researchers found only fibrous tissue and inflammatory cells where the tumor had been, with one case showing no detectable sign of the original tumor.
Researchers are launching two Phase 1 “window” trials — one enrolling patients with HPV-positive cervical cancer and another with HPV-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. For the cervical cancer trial, they’re recruiting 30 newly diagnosed patients who have not yet undergone surgery.
Participants will take fenofibrate for four to six weeks while awaiting their scheduled surgery, allowing researchers to evaluate the drug’s effect on tumor size and cellular changes.
“Obviously, the patients will then follow up with surgery to take the whole tumor out, then we can really study what the drug is actually doing to these tumors,” Pan noted.
If proven effective, treatment with fenofibrate could become a more targeted and less toxic therapy for patients with HPV-related cancers, compared to current treatments that don’t distinguish between HPV-positive and negative cancers. O’Neill suggests the drug might eventually have potential as a preventative agent for individuals at high risk for developing primary or recurrent HPV-positive cancers, given its excellent safety record.
University Hospitals is the exclusive location for this study and is self-funding the research. Importantly, patients do not need to be current UH patients to participate in the trial.
For more information on this and over 400 other clinical trials, visit UHhospitals.org/CancerClinicalTrials.