Customized Therapies May Bolster Cure and Quality of Life
What if anti-cancer therapies could destroy cancer cells – without harming the rest of the body?
oday’s cancer treatments, while effective, may cause lingering or very serious side effects, including nerve, kidney and heart damage. That’s because normal cells are also subjected to the power meant to destroy
cancer cells. Newer, targeted therapies aim to attack cancer cells while leaving normal cells relatively unscathed.
“As in real estate, in cancer chemotherapy, it’s location, location, location,” said Balaraman Kalyanaraman, PhD, researcher and chairman of Biophysics at The Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Kalyanaraman and Medical College of Wisconsin chemist Joy Joseph, PhD, have created customized antioxidant molecules that in early laboratory studies, target cells’ mitochondria to inhibit tumor production, enhance chemotherapy’s effectiveness and decrease oxidative damage to healthy cells.
How Antioxidants Protect Healthy Cells Balaraman Kalyanaraman, PhD
Antioxidants (beta carotene, curcumin and other naturally occurring chemical compounds) protect the body by revving up our antioxidant machinery and detoxifying damaging molecules called free radicals. “We are constantly exposed to free radicals from pollution, chemicals, over-exposure to sunlight, and eating too much fat,” Dr. Kalyanaraman said. Free radicals react with lipids, protein and DNA, causing oxidative damage to cells. Antioxidants “mop up” the free radicals.
Since most antioxidants are found in fruits and vegetables, people who eat large quantities of these foods boost antioxidant levels. Custom-made antioxidants take it to a higher level: they seek out the cells’ mitochondria – the energy powerhouse – where they accumulate at concentrations up to 100 times greater than some naturally occurring antioxidants. And in early tests, researchers noticed the custom antioxidants did something more.
A Triple Whammy
“When researchers at Northwestern University treated colon cancer cells with the new antioxidants, they noticed a marked inhibition of cancer cell growth,” Dr. Kalyanaraman said. The exact mechanism keeping the cancer cells in check is unknown and Dr. Kalyanaraman’s team continues to investigate.
Intrigued, researchers next treated cancer cells with the custom antioxidants and traditional chemotherapy. “It’s a triple whammy: adding our antioxidants actually enhanced the efficacy of the drug. These antioxidants also mitigated its side effects and protected normal cells,” Dr. Kalyanaraman said.
His team has tested custom-made antioxidants against pancreatic, colon, breast and prostate cancer cells. “In these cells, growth can be inhibited by our mitochondria-targeted molecules,” he said. Someday, he hopes these antioxidants, in combination with conventional chemotherapy, will help humans beat cancer and metastasis with fewer side effects.
“While there is no magic bullet for cancer,” Dr. Kalyanaraman said, “the therapeutic index aims to maximize the effect of treatment on cancer cells and minimize side effects on normal cells. If we can do that, it will be a big leap forward.”
From the Lab to the Bedside
“Our idea is to first establish optimal guidelines for antioxidant use in the lab. And next? We hope to test it in clinical trials for breast, liver, pancreatic and prostate cancers,” Dr. Kalyanaraman said. His work is supported by a $1.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
Special Report 2012 866-680-0505 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24