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"Suicide gene" injection shrinks cancer growth
February 08, 2002Injectable "suicide gene" therapy may be a highly effective way of preventing colon cancer from spreading (metastasising), finds research in Gut. Human colon cancer carries a high risk of death because it is often not found in the early stages and readily spreads to the liver, but also the lungs and throughout the abdominal cavity (peritoneum).
And the suicide gene treatment seems to be just as effective when injected beneath the skin as it is when introduced directly into the tumour site, the research shows.
In "suicide gene" therapy a normally harmless compound is converted into a lethal drug which will then attack malignant cancer cells. Because it is specifically targeted, the treatment avoids all the toxic side effects associated with conventional chemotherapy as it kills off healthy cells.
Tumour cells carrying the genetic component of the gut bacterium Escherichia coli were injected beneath the skin or directly into the liver tumours of rats with experimentally induced, aggressive colon cancer which had spread to the liver and beyond. The rats were then treated with an antifungal drug, 5-fluorocytosine. The E coli gene codes for an enzyme cytosine deaminase, which transforms 5-fluorocytosine into one of the widely used chemotherapy drugs 5-fluoracil or 5-FU.
Injecting the tumour cells carrying the bacterial genetic material beneath the skin or straight into the liver tumour both reduced tumour size and prevented the spread of cancerous cells to other sites. Within 30 days the tumours had shrunk by an average 70 per cent compared with a group of rats, which had not been given the injectable therapy.
The authors conclude that suicide gene therapy triggers the immune system into producing a systemic response to the genetically modified tumour cells, so affecting tumours at other sites far from the original tumour. And they suggest that it is a powerful approach to preventing the development and spread of metastatic colon cancer.
British Medical Journal (BMJ)
Tumour cells carrying the genetic component of the gut bacterium Escherichia coli were injected beneath the skin or directly into the liver tumours of rats with experimentally induced, aggressive colon cancer which had spread to the liver and beyond. The rats were then treated with an antifungal drug, 5-fluorocytosine. The E coli gene codes for an enzyme cytosine deaminase, which transforms 5-fluorocytosine into one of the widely used chemotherapy drugs 5-fluoracil or 5-FU.
Injecting the tumour cells carrying the bacterial genetic material beneath the skin or straight into the liver tumour both reduced tumour size and prevented the spread of cancerous cells to other sites. Within 30 days the tumours had shrunk by an average 70 per cent compared with a group of rats, which had not been given the injectable therapy.
The authors conclude that suicide gene therapy triggers the immune system into producing a systemic response to the genetically modified tumour cells, so affecting tumours at other sites far from the original tumour. And they suggest that it is a powerful approach to preventing the development and spread of metastatic colon cancer.
British Medical Journal (BMJ)
Colon Cancer News and Current Colon Cancer Events RSSVariation of normal protein could be key to resistance to common cancer drug
Researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UC SD) in La Jolla have found evidence explaining why a common chemotherapy drug, cisplatin, may not always work for every cancer patient. They have shown that when a variant version of a key protein that normally causes cell death is active, patients may be resistant to the cancer-killing drug.
Anti-Cancer Flower Power
Could a substance from the jasmine flower hold the key to an effective new therapy to treat cancer?
Scientists discover major genetic cause of colorectal cancer
About one-third of colorectal cancers are inherited, but the genetic cause of most of these cancers is unknown. The genes linked to colorectal cancer account for less than 5 percent of all cases.
Experimental chemotherapy regimen shows promise in treating advanced lung cancer
A combination of chemotherapy agents that have been tested in other tumor types appears to be a promising alternative to standard treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer, according to a report in the August 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Exercise Pill is No Replacement for Exercise
Recently, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, a research organization focused on biology and its relation to health, published a study in the journal Cell on the results of a substance that increased exercise endurance without daily exertion when tested in mice.
Researchers identify gene responsible for rare childhood disease
The chromosomal abnormality that causes a rare, but often fatal, disorder that affects infants has been identified by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, who happened to treat two young children with the disease in San Diego - two of perhaps a dozen children in the entire country diagnosed with the disorder.
'Smothered' genes combine with mutations to yield poor outcome in cancer patients
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers have identified a set of genes in breast and colon cancers with a deadly combination of traditional mutations and "smothered" gene activity that may result in poor outcomes for patients.
Study finds that significant proportion of men told wife's cancer was incurable late or not at all
A study conducted in Sweden found that more than 40 percent of widowers in that country whose wives died from cancer four or five years earlier reported they were either never told that their spouse's cancer was incurable, or they heard this information during the last week of her life.
Different type of colon cancer vaccine reduces disease spread, Jefferson scientists show
Taking advantage of the fact that the intestines have a separate immune system from the rest of the body, scientists at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia have found a way to immunize mice against the development of metastatic disease.
Weight-loss surgery can cut cancer risk
Successful bariatric surgery allows morbidly obese patients to lose up to 70 percent of their excess weight and to maintain weight loss.
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