Cancer drugs that use ErbB kinase inhibitors to hasten the death of neutrophil cells responsible for inflammation could soon be used to treat lung inflammation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to recent research published in the journal eLife.

“COPD is usually treated with steroids and airway muscle relaxants which ease symptoms, but there is currently no effective treatment clinically available to counteract the damage it does to the lungs,” Lynne Prince, MSc, PhD, Russell Fellow at the University of Sheffield, stated in a press release. “Our research now shows that inhibitors of these cell signaling processes, or ErbB kinases, could have therapeutic potential in neutrophilic inflammatory disease.”

“The hope of these drugs is that they can clear the damaging cells from the lungs of people living with COPD, preventing any further damage and therefore the progression of the disease for the first time,” she added.

Prince and colleagues screened 367 kinase inhibitors from neutrophils in humans and found gefitinib, CP-724714, erbstatin and tyrphostin AG825 hastened the death of neurophil cells in general as well as in people with COPD. When the researchers examined ErbB inhibitor’s effect in several animal models, they found it increased neutrophil apoptosis for a zebrafish inflammation model in-vivo and a murine lung inflammation model treated with Tyrphostin AG825.

Gefitinib is used to treat patients with certain types of breast, lung and other cancers, while erbstatin and CP-724714 are well known for their anticancer activity. 

“What is exciting about this research is that these drug compounds are available now, which means if our continued research can effectively find a lead compound to benefit people living with COPD, they are ready to use,” Stephen A. Renshaw, MA, FRCP, PhD, also of the University of Sheffield, stated in the release. “We are in desperate need of a new treatment for COPD. Millions of people all over the world live with the disease and it has a massive impact on their quality of life, especially as the disease progresses.”

Renshaw noted that neutrophilic inflammation is a key component of progression for other diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, and treatment with these drugs has the potential to extend beyond people with COPD. “Our next step is to find a way to test these drugs in people with COPD to understand how the ErbB kinase signaling process has an effect on lung inflammation and to address any potential side effects,” he said.