Researchers Develop New Drug To Prevent Chemotherapy Side Effects By Sam Lehman | Jan 23, 2013 09:33 AM EST Ohio hospital fights to continue 10-year-old Amish girl's cancer treatment. (NOT PICTURED) (Photo : Reuters) Researchers at the Linköping University in Sweden have discovered a new drug that can prevent side effects from cancer treatment, reports Science Daily. The well-known process for the treatment of cancer, chemotherapy, has its own side effects which decrease the count of white blood corpuscles making the body more prone to deadly diseases. Researchers at the Linköping University started the study with a substance called "mangafodipir" that was used during the magnetic resonance scans in order to protect the healthy cells in the body. "We found that the substance could affect the formation of oxygen radicals, which are a cause of side effects in chemotherapy," said Professor Rolf G. The study was initiated on cancer infected mice. "We remade the substance and replaced a lot of the manganese with calcium.
One-two punch strategy against bacteria and cancer Cancer researchers from Rice University suggest that a new man-made drug that’s already proven effective at killing cancer and drug-resistant bacteria could best deliver its knockout blow when used in combination with drugs made from naturally occurring toxins. “One of the oldest tricks in fighting is the one-two punch — you distract your opponent with one attack and deliver a knockout blow with another,” said José Onuchic of Rice’s Center for Theoretical Biological Physics (CTBP). “Combinatorial drug therapies employ that strategy at a cellular level. Rice University scientists have proposed using a combination of drugs to fight cancer and drug-resistant bacteria. “A wealth of research in recent years has shown that both cancer and bacteria can mount sophisticated, coordinated defenses against almost any drug,” said Onuchic, Rice’s Harry C. and Olga K. “Bacteria are notorious for their rapid development of drug resistance,” Ben-Jacob said.
Indian plant could play key role in death of cancer cells Public release date: 14-Feb-2013 [ Print | E-mail Share ] [ Close Window ] Contact: Danielle Mooresdwongmoores@yahoo.com 706-496-5956Georgia Health Sciences University AUGUSTA, Ga. – Scientists at the Georgia Regents University Cancer Center have identified an Indian plant, used for centuries to treat inflammation, fever and malaria, that could help kill cancer cells. Cancer cells typically avoid death by hijacking molecular chaperones that guide and protect the proteins that ensure normal cellular function and then tricking them into helping mutated versions of those proteins stay alive, says Dr. Ahmed Chadli, a researcher in the Molecular Chaperone Program at the GRU Cancer Center and senior author of the study named the Journal of Biological Chemistry's Paper of the Week. Drug development has focused on the chaperone Hsp90 (heat shock protein 90) because it plays a key role in assisting mutated proteins, making it an attractive cancer drug target. Dr. [ Print | E-mail
Ruthenium complexes promising - News Center - UT Arlington A team of UT Arlington researchers has identified two ruthenium-based complexes they believe could pave the way for treatments that control cancer cell growth more effectively and are less toxic for patients than current chemotherapies. Fred MacDonnell, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at The University of Texas at Arlington, has been researching a new generation of metal-based antitumor agents along with a team from the City of Hope Comprehensive Center Center in Duarte, Calif. Their aim is to find new therapies to complement widely used platinum-based therapies, such as cisplatin. Cisplatin is one of the most widely used anti-cancer drugs and shows remarkable effectiveness against some cancers, however it does not work on all cancers and can have severe side effects. A graphic from MacDonnell's paper shows the growth of a control tumor compared to the growth of tumors treated with ruthenium-based complexes developed in the lab.
An aspirin a day now combats cancer Medical Discovery News By Norbert Herzog and David Niesel New research shows that aspirin truly deserves its nickname as the wonder drug, since it now has been shown to help fight cancer. It’s naturally found in willow bark, which has been used as herbal medicine for thousands of years. Ancient Greeks used ground willow bark to treat fevers and control pain during childbirth. Since then, researchers have found even more medical uses for aspirin. Recent studies may have uncovered another, quite wonderful, effect of aspirin — reducing the risk of some common cancers. In a 2010 British study, those taking daily aspirin for at least five years reduced their risk of dying from colorectal, esophageal, stomach, pancreatic, brain, lung and prostate cancers by more than 20 percent. Several properties of aspirin might explain its cancer-fighting abilities. Given its ability to combat the nation’s two most serious killers, the potential for expanding low-dose aspirin therapy looks positive.
Malten, a new synthetic molecule showing in vitr... [Br J Cancer. 2010 Dichloroacetic acid Although preliminary studies have shown DCA can slow the growth of certain tumors in animal studies and in vitro studies, there is currently insufficient evidence to support the use of DCA for cancer treatment.[3] Chemistry and occurrence[edit] The chemistry of dichloroacetic acid is typical for halogenated organic acids. It is a member of the chloroacetic acids family. The dichloroacetate ion is produced when the acid is mixed with water. As an acid with a pKa of 1.35,[1] pure dichloroacetic acid is classed as a strong organic acid; it is very corrosive and extremely destructive to tissues of the mucous membranes and upper respiratory tract via inhalation.[4] DCA has been shown to occur in nature in at least one seaweed, Asparagopsis taxiformis.[5] It is a trace product of the chlorination of drinking water and is produced by the metabolism of various chlorine-containing drugs or chemicals.[6] DCA is typically prepared by the reduction of trichloroacetic acid (TCA). Lactic acidosis[edit]
Cheap, 'safe' drug kills most cancers New Scientist has received an unprecedented amount of interest in this story from readers. If you would like up-to-date information on any plans for clinical trials of DCA in patients with cancer, or would like to donate towards a fund for such trials, please visit the site set up by the University of Alberta and the Alberta Cancer Board. We will also follow events closely and will report any progress as it happens. Update, 16 May 2011: If you've just heard about this story, please read this recent update too. Article originally published online 17 January 2007: It sounds almost too good to be true: a cheap and simple drug that kills almost all cancers by switching off their "immortality". It also has no patent, meaning it could be manufactured for a fraction of the cost of newly developed drugs. DCA attacks a unique feature of cancer cells: the fact that they make their energy throughout the main body of the cell, rather than in distinct organelles called mitochondria. Promoted Stories
Cancer Drug Tested in Pet Dogs Bound for Human Trials | ALN Thanks to a new $2 million investment, a drug that spurs cancer cells to self-destruct while sparing healthy cells is on the road to human clinical trials. The compound, known as PAC-1, has so far proven safe and has promising anti-cancer effects in cell culture, in mouse models of cancer and in pet dogs with spontaneously occurring lymphomas and osteosarcomas. If PAC-1 (pack one) makes it through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Investigational New Drug review, the first human (Phase I) clinical trial of the drug will begin in mid-2014. The investor, who wishes to remain anonymous, has an option to invest another $2 million to take the drug into human trials. The clinical work will be conducted at the Univ. of Illinois Cancer Center in Chicago. “The trial is going to be geared toward brain cancer patients,” says U. of I. chemistry professor Paul Hergenrother, who discovered PAC-1’s anti-cancer capabilities in 2006 and has been refining and testing it ever since.
Breakthrough cancer cell treatment from the University of NSW offers new hope Little Zoe Emin, with her parents Erin and Alison, has just completed gruelling chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments that have pushed her cancer into remission. Picture: Garry Osborn Photography Source: Supplied A BREAKTHROUGH treatment that prompts cancer cells to kill themselves is set to revolutionise treatment and could be available within five years. The medical breakthrough by scientists at the University of NSW came from research into the devastating and deadly childhood cancer neuroblastoma. However it has also been proven to destroy melanoma cancer cells and is expected to be effective in treating most cancers. The journal Cancer Research reports today that the compound TR100 targets the protein tropomyosin, which is one of the building blocks of cancer cells. "Our drug causes the structure of the cancer cell to collapse - and it happens relatively quickly." It will be used in conjunction with other chemotherapies.
Ingredient in turmeric spice when combined with anti-nausea drug kills cancer cells Public release date: 20-Aug-2013 [ Print | E-mail Share ] [ Close Window ] Contact: Alaina Farrishakfarrish@vcu.edu 804-628-4578Virginia Commonwealth University In a laboratory, preclinical study recently published by the journal Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers combined structural features from anti-nausea drug thalidomide with common kitchen spice turmeric to create hybrid molecules that effectively kill multiple myeloma cells. Thalidomide was first introduced in the 1950s as an anti-nausea medication to help control morning sickness, but was later taken off the shelves in 1962 because it was found to cause birth defects. "Although thalidomide disturbs the microenvironment of tumor cells in bone marrow, it disintegrates in the body. Compared to mixing multiple drugs, creating hybrid molecules can provide certain advantages. About VCU Massey Cancer Center About VCU and the VCU Medical Center [ Print | E-mail
Biologists Engineer Algae to Make Complex Anti-Cancer ‘Designer’ Drug Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a green alga used widely in biology laboratories, can produce many kinds of “designer proteins.” Biologists at UC San Diego have succeeded in genetically engineering algae to produce a complex and expensive human therapeutic drug used to treat cancer. Their achievement, detailed in a paper in this week’s early online issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, opens the door for making these and other “designer” proteins in larger quantities and much more cheaply than can now be made from mammalian cells. “Because we can make the exact same drug in algae, we have the opportunity to drive down the price down dramatically,” said Stephen Mayfield, a professor of biology at UC San Diego and director of the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology or SD-CAB, a consortium of research institutions that is also working to develop new biofuels from algae. “We have a two-fold advantage over that process,” said Mayfield.
Gold nanostars deliver drugs directly to cancer cell nucleus While effective at killing cancer cells, chemotherapy is currently a shotgun approach that can also harm healthy cells and cause serious side effects in patients. The ability to deliver drugs directly into cancer cells would provide a more targeted approach to more effectively treat the disease with lower doses of drugs and less side effects. Researchers at Northwestern University are claiming to be the first to develop gold nanostars that provide a much more precise approach by delivering a drug directly to a cancer cell’s nucleus. The nanoparticles developed at Northewestern are spiky gold nanostars measuring approximately 25 nanometers wide with five to 10 points. In their study of human cervical and ovarian cancer cells, the scientists coated gold nanostars in a single-stranded DNA aptamer. Taking advantage of nucleolin’s role as a shuttle within the cancer cell, the gold nanostars hitch a ride to the cell’s nucleus. “All cancer cells seem to respond similarly,” Odom said.
Science Confirms Turmeric As Effective As 14 Drugs Turmeric is one the most thoroughly researched plants in existence today. Its medicinal properties and components (primarily curcumin) have been the subject of over 5600 peer-reviewed and published biomedical studies. In fact, our five-year long research project on this sacred plant has revealed over 600 potential preventive and therapeutic applications, as well as 175 distinct beneficial physiological effects. This entire database of 1,585 ncbi-hyperlinked turmeric abstracts can be downloaded as a PDF at our Downloadable Turmeric Document page, and acquired either as a retail item or with 200 GMI-tokens, for those of you who are already are members and receive them automatically each month. Given the sheer density of research performed on this remarkable spice, it is no wonder that a growing number of studies have concluded that it compares favorably to a variety of conventional medications, including: Resources www.greenmedinfo.com Eddie L. is the founder and owner of WorldTruth.TV.