India could be part of a major experiment being launched to the International Space Station to study early warning signs of cancer and develop advanced therapeutics for patients on Earth.
The experiment will be launched aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as part of the Axiom-4 mission on May 29, piloted by India’s Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla.
The study has been developed in collaboration with the Sanford Stem Cell Institute at UC San Diego and the JM Foundation.
MICROGRAVITY: A UNIQUE LABORATORY
The microgravity environment of space offers a unique setting to study cancer cell behaviour.
Previous missions have shown that cancer stem cells can regenerate more easily and become more resistant to standard therapies in low-Earth orbit.
Notably, tumour organoids have been observed to triple in size within just 10 days in space, providing a compressed timeline to study cancer progression and potential interventions.
TARGETING TRIPLE-NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER
Building on earlier findings, the Cancer in LEO-3 investigation will focus on triple-negative breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form with limited treatment options.
Researchers plan to test the efficacy of two ADAR1 inhibitors: fedratinib, an anti-cancer medication used to treat myeloproliferative diseases including myelofibrosis, and rebecsinib, an experimental anticancer medication derived by modification of the natural product Pladienolide B.
This study aims to determine if these drugs can reverse malignant regeneration and prevent cancer progression in microgravity conditions.
MONITORING ASTRONAUTS STEM CELL HEALTH
In addition to studying cancer cells, the project includes a longitudinal study monitoring astronauts’ blood stem cells before, during, and after spaceflight.
This research aims to understand how microgravity affects stem cell aging and immune function, potentially leading to insights into immune dysfunction-related diseases and cancer development.
IMPLICATIONS FOR EARTH-BASED TREATMENTS
The insights gained from these space-based experiments could revolutionise cancer treatment on Earth.
By understanding how cancer cells behave in microgravity, scientists hope to develop predictive models for cancer and immune dysfunction-related diseases, leading to the development of new drugs to prevent or treat these conditions.