A team of researchers has discovered a compound that prevents cancer cells from spreading

Endoscopy Fighting cancer means killing cancer cells, but oncologists know that it is also important to stop the movement of cancer cells. For cancer cells before they spread all over the body.

New research published in Nature Communications shows that cancer cells can be frozen and killed where they are. "Most cancer treatment methods are now targeted to kill cancer," said Raymond Bergan, head of the Division of Hematology and Oncology, and professor of medicine at OHSU. "Until now, no one has developed a treatment capable of stopping cancer cells." Move around the body. "For most cancers, such as breast cancer, prostate, lungs." , colon and other types, if detected early, "says Pergan, who is also deputy director of medical tumors at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute and director of the OHSU Bergan Laboratory for Basic Research. small block is in the limb), and has not yet spread, you will live.

In general, if you discover late after the spread of cancer in your body, you will die. "

" The movement is the key, they make the difference between black and white, night and day. If the cancer cells spread through your body, they will kill you, we can treat them, but it will cost you your life. "

For this reason, the study of the movement of cancer cells (movement capacity) has been the focus of his group's research for several decades.

Annulment of Cancer Cells:

In 2011, Bergan and his team took a new approach to their research by working with chemists to discover a new drug that would inhibit the movement of cancer cells.KBU2046, a compound that inhibits the cell's ability to move in four models of different human breast cancer cells: breast, prostate, colon and lung cancer.Bergan said: "We used chemistry to explore biology, to give us an effective drug that would not that inhibit the movement of cancer cells and do nothing else.This fundamental change in logic will lead us to do whatever we want. "

Purification of Drugs:

Pergan pointed out that the process of filtering the special drug was a process of purification. "We started using a chemical that prevented the cells from moving, and then we refined the chemical, so that he did an ideal job of stopping the cells without any side effects," he says. All medications have side effects, so you should seek as much as possible of the highest quality drugs, and this medication does it. "

He said:" The main key of this drug is the use of heat shock proteins (cellular cleansers).

The way the drug acts is to bind these cleansing proteins to stop the movement of the cell, but it has no other effect on these proteins because it is an unusual and rare way that It took us years to discover.

"Nobody would have funded us at first, and we were looking for a completely different way to treat cancer."

Next Step: Testing the drug on humans:

In the end, Gordon says that the purpose of this research is essentially to find a new cure for human benefit. "The hope of this research is that we are working to develop a therapeutic approach that can help manage the early stage of the disease to prevent patients from reaching the irreversible stage (intractable)," he said. he says.

He quickly noticed that this work had not been tested on humans, that it would take time and money, and that, at best, the team would take about two years and would need $ 5 million.

They are currently raising funds to conduct IND INDDEPENDENT STUDIES, a requirement for a clinical trial of an unsupported drug, a certified product for a new presentation, or a new group of patients. "Our ultimate goal is to be able to tell a woman with breast cancer," said Pergan, "Eat this pill and your cancer will not spread in your body, the same for cancer patients." prostate, lung and colon

This treatment is very effective in the laboratory up to now against four types of cancer (breast cancer, colon, lung and prostate), and our goal is to guide this as a treatment for testing in humans. "

Bergan said his team felt lucky to have the opportunity to carry out this difficult research at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, an institute dedicated to new approaches to cancer detection and treatment.

"What early detection attempts to do is detect early lethal injury, and the cancer is deadly because it's moving. This drug is designed to stop this movement," says Pergan.

This research was supported by the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration.

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