Anyone see this feature on the ABC National News tonight “Researchers have discovered a molecular “switch†that turns off cancer cells“
abcnews.go.com
ABCNEWS.com April 6, 1999
<<In treating cancer, there are usually two options — kill the bad cells with chemotherapy or cut them out with surgery. Unfortunately, healthy cells are often destroyed in the process. But now there may be another way.
Research into the idea began on Long Island, N.Y., at the Picower Institute for Medical Research, where scientists focus on new ways to fight deadly disease. Dr. Jason Chesney was searching for a specific chemical inside human cells that fights infectious disease.
Instead, by accident, he identified another chemical, an enzyme never seen before. His discovery would make medical history.
“After months of detailed experiments, they figured out that the enzyme acts like a switch that controls a cancer cell’s ability to produce energy.
“If you can turn the switch off, if you can tell the cell to stop dividing,†Bucala says, “you can cure cancer.â€
At the Picower Institute, they refer to the discovery as part of the “Warburg Paradox.†More than 70 years ago, a German biochemist named Dr. Otto Warburg discovered that cancer cells metabolize sugars without oxygen. Normal, healthy cells need oxygen for metabolism. Why cancer cells are able to skip the oxygen has been a mystery ever since Warburg’s initial discovery.
Now it looks like there’s an answer to that question. Experiments by Bucala’s staff showed that the enzyme they discovered — the molecular switch — is always turned on in cancer cells, allowing them to produce energy without oxygen.
From there, they devised an experimental cancer treatment. In the lab, Chesney displays the encouraging results. “These are human cancer cells that are untreated, and rapidly multiplying,†he says. “When we look at a second group of cells that have been treated to turn off the switch, we see that they’ve stopped multiplying and there are far fewer cells.â€
It was an exciting moment. “Immediately, we knew that we had a big piece of the answer,†Bucala says, “if not the whole answer.â€
The next step: animal research. They tested their experimental substance on a special breed of hairless mice that can be given human cancers. In mice that didn’t get any treatment, tumors continued to grow. But in mice that were treated, tumors shrank dramatically in just two days. It was another breakthrough.
After months of detailed experiments, they figured out that the enzyme acts like a switch that controls a cancer cell’s ability to produce energy.
“If you can turn the switch off, if you can tell the cell to stop dividing,†Bucala says, “you can cure cancer.â€
But it’s important to remember that what works for mice doesn’t always work for humans. Researchers know that the hard work has really just begun
The Picower Institute has licensed its research to a drug company called Cytokine Networks Inc., which now faces the daunting task of turning this exciting discovery into a drug that cancer patients can use safely and effectively.>>
Deborah Amos ABCNews.com
Sounds promising, at least in mice, although a long way off.
Is it new? It sounds familiar. |
