New drug cheats cancer cells into dying

Pushpa Narayan, TNN, Nov 17, 2010, 04.30am IST

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CHENNAI: India will soon launch a new spectrum of cancer drugs that will enhance the effects of radiation therapy by weakening the ability of the cancer cells to fight back. The drugs, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), will work on all kinds of cancer, including complicated cases such as brain tumours and soft tissue cancer.

The therapy, experts say, will not only increase the success rates of cancer treatment by three times, but also come as a big boost to Indian medical research. Similar attempts in the West are yet to see desired results.

DRDO, after several years of clinical trials, has been able to prove that a compound, 2-Deoxyglucose (2-DG), which resembles glucose but has a slightly different chemical formula and structure, can 'confuse' and 'cheat' cancer cells to become weak. (2-DG is a glucose molecule with the 2-hydroxyl group replaced by hydrogen.)

Cancer cells spend energy in sucking glucose from the body and then derive energy from these cells. When 2-DG is infused into the body, usually 30 minutes ahead of radiation, the body cells and cancer cells spend energy in sucking glucose. But unlike glucose cells, 2-DG gives them no energy.

"The cancer cells lose energy and become incapable of gaining any. At this time if we give radiation therapy, the cancer cells will not be able to fight back. So the treatment will be effective. This also brings down the intensity of radiation and minimises the side effects," said said BS Dwarakanath, head, Division of Radiation Biosciences, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) of DRDO.

DRDO is awaiting clearance from the Drugs Controller General of India, after which production will begin. The technology has been transferred to Dr Reddy's Laboratories.

Earlier, former scientific advisor to the defence minister and secretary M Natarajan said DRDO was also in the process of developing three bio-protectors. "These are compounds derived from berries and tulsi, which show signs of protecting normal cells when they are subjected to radiotherapy or chemotherapy in animal trials. Advanced trials will soon begin," he said.

Dwarakanath and Natarajan were talking on the sidelines of the 'International Conference on Radiation Biology — Nanotechnology, Imaging and Stem Cell Research in Radiation Oncology' at the Sri Ramachandra University. The conference is being held in association with the Indian Society for Radiation Biology.

The three-day conference will aim at minimising side-effects of radiation and enhancing the positive effects. Scientists will also discuss ways to prevent the recurrence of cancer through stem cell therapy and better drug delivery through nano technology. The programme will cover all major disciplines of radiation sciences, including physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. More than 100 experts from the US, Germany, Canada, Poland, Japan and other countries are attending the conference.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/