A new cancer treatment out of Purdue University has shown impressive results in stopping tumor growth. Imagine if you could trick cancer cells into halting their own growth.
Well, that’s exactly what this treatment does. The therapy uses a modified form of a naturally occurring molecule to act like a “brake” on cancer cells, preventing them from dividing and growing.
During a 21-day study, tumors treated with this new approach didn’t grow at all, while untreated tumors tripled in size.
How Does It Work?
Cancer is tricky. It starts when cells in our body go haywire and begin to divide without stopping. Not only do these cells divide like crazy, but they also ignore the natural signals that would usually tell them to stop or even die.
What makes this therapy unique is how it targets the very thing that cancer cells are good at dividing uncontrollably.
The treatment relies on a special molecule called microRNA-34a, which naturally exists in healthy cells and acts like a brake on cell division. The researchers modified this molecule to make it more stable and effective.
They then attach it to a vitamin called folate, which cancer cells love to consume. This ensures the modified molecule gets sucked into the cancer cells. Once inside, it does its job, putting a stop to the cell division that fuels the growth of cancer.
And there’s a bonus: this modified molecule is invisible to the immune system, so it goes unnoticed and can do its work without interference.
Targeting the Hard-to-Treat Cases
In the battle against cancer, one of the most frustrating challenges is dealing with drug resistance. Sometimes, cancer cells learn to outsmart treatments, making them less effective.
What’s promising about this new therapy is that it suppressed the activity of specific genes that are known for driving cancer growth and causing drug resistance.
This makes it a strong candidate for treating difficult-to-treat forms of cancer, potentially alongside existing treatments.
Lead researcher Andrea Kasinski, who has been targeting microRNA to destroy cancer for over 15 years, couldn’t contain her excitement when the data came in.
“I am confident that this approach is better than the current standard of treatment and that there are patients who will benefit from this,” she said.
Kasinski is already gearing up for clinical trials, so the future for this treatment looks promising.
The Road Ahead
Research for this groundbreaking therapy was not without its hurdles. Getting any molecule to survive long enough in the body to do its job is a challenge.
However, the Purdue team cracked this by making their molecule extra stable. They were inspired by an FDA-approved chemical structure used in similar treatments.
The research team also designed a version of the therapy specifically for prostate cancer, which doesn’t respond to the vitamin folate like other cancers do. This shows the versatility and potential reach of the treatment.
With a patent pending and clinical trials in sight, this therapy could well be a game-changer in cancer treatment, bringing new hope to millions affected by the disease.
If you care about cancer risk, please read studies that exercise may stop cancer in its tracks, and vitamin D can cut cancer death risk.
For more information about cancer prevention, please see recent studies about nutrient in fish that can be a poison for cancer, and results showing this daily vitamin is critical to cancer prevention.
The research findings can be found in Oncogene.
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