Anticancer compound shows promise in preclinical trials

The study centers on a newly-identified interaction between two components in a cell – a protein called mitochondrial fission factor (MFF) and the voltage-dependent anion channel-1 (VDAC1). VDAC1 regulates mitochondrial cell death, and tumors appear to highjack it to keep themselves alive longer. They do this by expressing MFF in high amounts and binding the protein to VDAC1.

So the researchers set out to investigate whether they could disrupt this process to kill the cancer cells. They began by studying which bits of the MFF protein are binding to VDAC1. Then they designed a synthetic peptide that contained these same pieces, letting it also bind to VDAC1. That blocks MFF from interacting with VDAC1, triggering a mitochondrial meltdown and in turn, cell death.

In tests on cells grown in the lab, the team found that this peptide was effective at killing prostate cancer and melanoma cells, even those that were resistant to other drugs. Importantly, the treatment didn’t affect healthy cells, leading the team to believe that tumors may be more dependent on the interaction between MFF and VDAC1 than regular cells are.

Next, the team developed a new compound that mimics the peptide and can enter cells in the body. This was tested in a few different preclinical models, both in vitro and in vivo. They used mini-organs, grown from patient cells, that mimicked lung, breast and brain cancer, as well as mice that had received transplants of human prostate cancer and melanomas.

https://newatlas.com/medical/anticancer-compound-preclinical-trials/

Implantable cancer traps could replace biopsies for tumor detection

One of the main things that makes cancer so deadly is its ability to spread throughout the body, so it’s important for doctors to detect it before it does. Rather than the invasive process of taking biopsies of organs, researchers from the University of Michigan have developed “cancer traps” that can be implanted just below the skin. In tests on mice, these traps caught biomarkers that can tell doctors if cancer is present, if it’s spreading or even if it’s preparing to.

The scaffolds [traps] work by attracting immune cells to the site. Soon after, cancer cells – if they’re in the body – will also begin gathering there. But the team realized that they didn’t need to wait for the cancer cells to show up to diagnose the disease.

“When we started off, the idea was that we would biopsy the scaffold and look for tumor cells that had followed the immune cells there,” says Shea. “But we realized that by analyzing the immune cells that gather first, we can detect the cancer before it’s spreading.”

Much more detail at: https://newatlas.com/medical/implantable-cancer-traps-biopsies-tumor-detection/

Drug cocktail takes out leukemia's cellular power plants

“Our bioinformatic analysis, which included 60 cell lines from nine different cancer types, showed that leukemia cells are particularly sensitive to mitochondrial damage.”

After conducting the computer analysis, the researchers then began testing mitocans on acute myeloid leukemia cells in a lab setting. Not only did the drugs work well against the cancer, but they found the effect could be boosted with the help of another drug – a glycolytic inhibitor. Glycolysis is the process by which glucose is broken down into energy molecules, including ATP, so it makes sense that inhibiting that process would put a damper on cancer growth.

In some of the tests, the team showed that the drugs killed up to 86 percent of leukemia cells. Importantly, the drugs didn’t affect healthy blood cells as much, although there were casualties of up to 30 percent. While that does sound troublesome, the team stresses that this survival rate is roughly five times better than previous cancer drugs.

More detail at: https://newatlas.com/medical/leukemia-drug-mitochondria-treatment-rice/

Anthrax toxin may be an unlikely ally against bladder cancer

Bladder cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, and while it is often caught early, it does have a high chance of recurring down the track. Currently treatment is rather invasive and uncomfortable – intravesical chemotherapy involves inserting a catheter through the urethra, filling the bladder with a drug solution, holding it there for a couple of hours, then emptying it out through the catheter again.

For the new study, researchers from Purdue University developed a similar method, but one that works in as little as three minutes. Rather than conventional chemotherapy drugs, the active ingredient is the anthrax toxin, mixed with a growth factor. As alarming as it sounds, the bladder can handle it. The organ is used to handling toxins after all, so it has a protective layer that shields healthy cells. Tumors and cancer cells aren’t so lucky though – they’re exposed to the drug mixture, which triggers the cell death process within minutes.

“We have effectively come up with a promising method to kill the cancer cells without harming the normal cells in the bladder,” says R. Claudio Aguilar, corresponding author of the study. “It is basically like creating a special solution that targets cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone.” The team tested the technique on human bladder cancer cells in the lab, and found that just three minutes of exposure to the drug was enough to eliminate the tumors. In tests in living mice and dogs, the treatment worked well, too. Importantly, in groups of both animals that had no cancer at all, the drug mixture showed no toxicity to healthy cells.

more at: https://newatlas.com/medical/anthrax-fight-bladder-cancer/

In France it's illegal for consumers to order a DNA spit kit. Activists are fighting over lifting the ban

Under French law, having a direct-to-consumer genetic test can, technically speaking, put you at risk of being fined about $4,140/3,750 euros.

https://www.statnews.com/2019/11/14/france-consumer-genetic-testing-ban/