Bacteria Living in Soil May Kill Cancer | Medical News and Health Information

Bacteria Living in Soil May Kill Cancer | Medical News and Health Information: Reported September 7, 2011

Bacteria Living in Soil May Kill Cancer
(Ivanhoe Newswire) – A strain of bacteria that specifically targets tumors could be used as a transporter to deliver drugs in frontline cancer therapy. The harmless soil-dwelling strain is expected to be tested in cancer patients in 2013.

The spores of Clostridium sporogenes are injected into patients and only grow in solid tumors, where a specific bacterial enzyme is produced. An anti-cancer drug is injected separately into the patient in an inactive 'pro-drug' form. When the pro-drug reaches the site of the tumor, the bacterial enzyme activates the drug, allowing it to destroy only the tumor cells in its vicinity.

A fundamental requirement for any new cancer therapy is the ability to target cancer cells while excluding healthy cells. Professor Nigel Minton, who is leading the research, explained how this therapy naturally fulfills this need. "Clostridia are an ancient group of bacteria that evolved on the planet before it had an oxygen-rich atmosphere and so they thrive in low oxygen conditions.
When Clostridia spores are injected into a cancer patient, they will only grow in oxygen-depleted environments, i.e. the center of solid tumors. This is a totally natural phenomenon, which requires no fundamental alterations and is exquisitely specific. We can exploit this specificity to kill tumor cells but leave healthy tissue unscathed," Minton was quoted as saying.

The research may ultimately lead to a simple and safe procedure for curing a wide range of solid tumors. "This therapy will kill all types of tumor cell. The treatment is superior to a surgical procedure, especially for patients at high risk or with difficult tumour locations," explained Professor Minton. "We anticipate that the strain we have developed will be used in a clinical trial in 2013 led by Jan Theys and Philippe Lambin at the University of Maastricht in The Netherlands. A successful outcome could lead to its adoption as a frontline therapy for treating solid tumors. If the approach is successfully combined with more traditional approaches this could increase our chance of winning the battle against cancerous tumors."

SOURCE: Society for General Microbiology's Autumn Conference at the University of York, held on September 5-7, 2011

- Enviado mediante la barra Google