A new study published in the journal ACS Chemical Biology suggests that re-routing cancer drugs to the 'power plants' of the cells that keep them alive is a promising approach to preventing emergence of the drug-resistant forms of cancer.
Shana Kelley and colleagues explain that doxorubicin and other common forms of chemotherapy work by damaging the genes inside the nucleus of cancer cells. Cancer cells divide and multiply faster than surrounding normal cells, making copies of their genes. The drugs disrupt that process. But cancer cells eventually adapt, developing structures that pump out nucleus-attacking drugs before they can work. Kelley's team explored the effects of targeting doxorubicin to the mitochondria, the energy-producing structures in cells that also contain genes.
Tumor Markers For Cancer Diagnosis and Prognosis
An ideal tumor marker for a cancer should be specific to that cancer and not generate false positive results.
They describe a re-targeting approach that involved mating doxorubicin with a small piece of protein that made the drug travel to mitochondria instead of the nucleus. The combo killed cancer cells, even those that had developed pumps. Such an approach could work with a whole family of anti-cancer drugs that target the nucleus, the scientists indicate.
Source: Eurekalert
Carcinoid Tumors
Carcinoid tumors is a benign tumor that results in carcinoid syndrome. Only 8 to 10% of all carcinoid tumors are associated with the carcinoid syndrome.
 Brain TumorBrain tumors are the abnormal growth of brain cells that may be benign or metastatic. Brain tumors account for about 2.4% of all the tumor diagnosesandare most challenging due to their critically delicate location. | Advertisement
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