New Compound MM41 Blocks Faulty Genes, Targets Pancreatic Cancer Tumors

MM41 compound taken up into the nucleus of the cancer cells effectively targets the little knots in the pancreatic cancer tumor.

A chemical compound, MM41 has been identified which shows to be a potential therapy to reduce the growth of cancerous tumors in the pancreas by 80 percent in treated mice.

MM41 was designed to block faulty genes. It appears to do this by targeting little knots in their DNA called quadruplexes, especially found in faulty genes.

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"This research provides a potentially very powerful alternative approach to the way that conventional drugs tackle pancreatic cancer by targeting a very specific area of the DNA of faulty genes," said Stephen Neidle, Professor at University College London.

Neidle said that although these results are exciting, MM41 is not ideal for trailing in humans and further refinements are needed.

"We are now working to optimize this class of compounds, but it is clearly worthy of further investigation for potential use in treating pancreatic cancer in people," he said.

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For the study, the researchers conducted a small-scale trial, treating two groups of eight mice with pancreatic tumors with different doses of MM41 twice a week for 40 days (12 doses).

During the treatment period the group given the larger dose, had an 80% reduction in tumors. Analysis of the mice tumors showed that the MM41 compound had been taken up into the nucleus of the cancer cells, showing that it was able to effectively target the pancreatic cancer tumor.

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The team also saw no significant side effects on the mice during the study: there was no damage to other tissue or organs, and none of the mice showed any significant weight loss.

Source-IANS