They discover a new cancer treatment that attacks any tumor, even if it is not known where it is located.

Today, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are mainly used to treat cancer, very effective for some tumors, but almost useless for others. In addition, they have the disadvantage that they cause many side effects, as they destroy tumor cells, but also healthy ones. For this reason, scientists have spent many years trying to find a cure for cancer that would act directly on it without affecting the rest of the cells. Great strides have been made, but with the disadvantage that they are usually very specific approachesthat go directly to a specific tumor. Instead, a group of Japanese scientists developed much more general cancer treatmenteffective against a large number of tumors.

It is important to note that currently They only tested it on mice.. However, there is hope that it can be extrapolated to humans. If so, then it would be an ideal alternative to chemotherapy and radiotherapy as it attacks cancer from the inside like a Trojan horse that leaves the rest of the cells intact.

So far, tests in mice have shown very high efficacy with reduced number of side effects. So this cancer treatment could be the weapon we’ve been waiting for. We must look at this with caution, as always, but also with hope.

Very specific cancer treatment

Typically, when developing specific cancer treatments, probes are used that bind to molecules that are only present in the tumor. For example, antibodies are often used that specifically target proteins present in tumor cells. But not in any tumor cell. antibodies they are so specific that they can only target cells of a certain type of tumor.

Instead, this new cancer treatment is based on finding acroleina molecule that accumulates in cells suffering from high oxidative stresslike cancer.

The same research team that conducted this study has already used this substance as a diagnostic tool. Previously, they found that acrolein reacts with a type of molecule called arylazidesgiving rise to other compounds called α-diazocarbonyl derivatives. This is a harmless reaction for cells. But it also gives scientists an important tool. And the fact is that since acrolein is in the cells, if the azide binds to fluorescent moleculewhen a reaction occurs between them, this fluorescent molecule also remains attached to the cells. So it can be used as a diagnostic tool, all you have to do is look at the fluorescence. in his day they tested him for breast cancer with very good results.

Trojan horse to fight cancer

This new study, published in chemical science, its authors repeated this procedure with a slight change. Instead of a fluorescent molecule to astatine-211. This radionuclide. That is, the unstable form of the element, which, as it decays, emits radiation. Therefore, it remains attached to the cells, gradually releasing radiation that affects like radiation therapy, but from inside the tumor. Healthy cells will remain completely intact.

This cancer treatment is very beneficial for several reasons. For starters, because you can go to almost any type of tumor. Also because it can affect very early stages cancer when you don’t know exactly where it is. And finally, because in the case metastasesyou can find where the cancer has spread and act accordingly.

How is this cancer treatment done?

In tests on mice, the study authors tested various forms of administration of this cancer drug. First, they injected astatine-211 separately into human lung tumor previously implanted in rodents. They then injected it into the tumor, but linked it to aryl azide. And to finish they put in blood flow the same binding of astatine-211 and aryl azide.

When only the radionuclide was administered, the tumor continued to grow and the mice did not survive. On the contrary, when azide was used as a probe, the tumor grew almost three times less. In addition, when injected into a tumor 100% survived mice and in the bloodstream 80%.

This indicates that, as we have already seen, even if we do not know where the tumor is located, very good results can be achieved. It is logical to assume that it is better to localize it, but if you do not know where it is, whether because it is at an early stage, or because there are metastases, all is not lost.

some restrictions

As we always say in such cases, the first limitation of this study is that was done in mice. Interestingly, the tumor cells were human, but it would be necessary to see if the results would be the same when all cancer treatments were given directly to patients.

On the other hand, acrolein accumulates in cells subjected to severe oxidative stress. This applies to cancer, but also to diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, there may be cases where the probe is not directed correctly. In any case, these are small exceptions that can be worked on if necessary.

What is clear is that this cancer treatment is very promising, unlike anything that has been tried so far. Of course it seems more and more likely to have alternatives to traditional chemotherapy. It’s always great news.