New hope for cancer patients: Drug chokes off energy to tumors

On the medical side of things, researchers at Ohio State University have hit upon a promising new lead in the fight against cancer: an experimental drug that kills cancerous cells by cutting off their supply of sugar.

From the article at the university's website...

Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute have designed an experimental drug that chokes off that sugar supply, causing the cells to self destruct.

The agent, called OSU-CG12, is an example of a new class of anticancer drugs called energy-restriction mimetic agents. It is described in a paper published recently in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

"Energy restriction may offer a powerful new strategy for treating cancer because it targets a survival mechanism used by many types of cancer," says principal investigator Ching-Shih Chen, professor of medicinal chemistry, of internal medicine and of urology.

"Our study proves that this new agent kills cancer cells through energy restriction. This is important because it shows that it is possible to design drugs that target energy restriction, and it is exciting because energy-restricting mimetic agents may also be useful for other diseases, including metabolic syndromes, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity," Chen adds.

Energy-restricting mimetic agents cause changes in cancer cells that are similar to those that occur in cancer cells deprived of their main energy source, the sugar glucose.

Plenty more info at the link above for those of you technically-minded, or otherwise have a strong interest in this sort of thing.

I tend to no longer be the sort that jumps headfirst with enthusiasm at news of this nature. But the fact is there's been lots of new research getting published lately from the realm of biochemistry holding the potential for great strides against cancer, with much of it having to do with selectively targeting cancerous cells while leaving the healthy tissue untouched.

The day that Lord willing we get to say that we have got cancer licked, I for one am going to go positivalutely bonkers with celebration. Mayhap that day not be too far off after all...

Categories: awesome duuuuuuude, cancer, medicine, science