Scientists Discover Way to Kill Cancer Cells

Scientists Discover Way to Kill Cancer Cells

Latest news on cancer studies showed that researchers have found ways to trap a glucose-eating cancer cell to their doom.

Guy Perkins of the University of California at San Diego stated that since cancer cells rely on glucose for growth and development, scientists have tricked cancer cells in acting on sugar that will eventually poison them, leaving a suicide switch inside the cells and making it defenseless and open to attacks or treatment.

Further, Perkins together with Rudy Yamaguchi of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, found the cancer cells would take up a related sugar called 2-deoxyglucose. The 2-deoxyglucose physically dislodges a protein within the cancer cell that guards a suicide switch. According to experts, once it is open, the suicide switch can be activated by a drug called ABT-263 (Navitoclax).

Navitoclax is a small molecule dual Bcl-2/Bcl-xL inhibitor that is designed to restore apoptosis. It is also known as an automatic cell death that blocks the function of pro-survival Bcl-2 family proteins.

This new research finding will put an end to various types of cancer, such as liver, lung, breast, blood and prostate cancer. Perkins and Yamaguchi still plan further research on this new discovery soon.

Posted by George Daniels on Sunday December 04 2011, 10:52 AM EDT. Ref: Guy Perkins et al. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0