Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Janet      

New Class Of Anti-cancer Drugs Based On Platinum

Scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University's Massey Cancer Center have created a new platinum-based, anti-cancer agent able to overcome acquired drug resistance by first modifying the way it is absorbed into cancer cells and then attacking the DNA of those cancer cells.

The findings may help scientists design a new generation of anti-cancer drugs that selectively target cancer cells, reduce resistance and side effects and expand the range of tumors that can be treated by platinum.

In the Dec. 26 issue of the journal Inorganic Chemistry scientists reported on the design of a new trinuclear platinum compound and demonstrated that its cellular absorption is significantly greater than that of neutral cisplatin, as well as other multi-nuclear platinum compounds. The enhanced uptake into cancer cells takes advantage of weak molecular interactions on the cells' surface. These results underscore the importance of the new compound's "non-covalent" interactions, previous to the attack on DNA. Non-covalent interactions minimize potential side reactions and produce changes in the structure of proteins and DNA, which is different from currently used drugs. This research was selected as the cover article for the print version of the journal, Issue 26.

Scientists compared the cytotoxicity and cellular concentrations of three anti-cancer drugs including the phase II clinical drug, BBR 3464, cisplatin and the new trinuclear platinum compound. In a laboratory model, human ovary cancer cells were exposed to each drug.

"In platinum antitumor chemistry our objective is to design and develop complexes acting by new mechanisms of action," said Nicholas Farrell, Ph.D., professor and chair in the Department of Chemistry at VCU, and lead author of the study. "Resistance to current drugs is due to poor cellular absorption and an increased ability of the cell to process or repair the damage caused by the chemotherapeutic agent".

"Our novel compound was designed to overcome resistance by emphasizing new modes of DNA binding, and in the process we have found that the amount of platinum drug entering cells is increased," he said. "The effectiveness of a platinum drug in killing cells is directly related to its concentration inside the cell".

DNA-damaging agents, such as cisplatin, are among the most effective classes of compounds in clinical use for the therapy of cancer. The principal function of cisplatin is to bind to DNA. Platinum drugs are the largest class of anti-cancer drugs in the clinic and the most important in terms of therapy. Cisplatin is a chemotherapy drug that is given for the therapy of metastatic testicular or ovary cancers, and some advanced bladder cancer, and is a very effective drug in combination with other therapies.

However, according to Farrell, these current agents have limited activity against a number of common human cancers, and they are susceptible to acquired drug resistance. He added that resistance to cisplatin has become a clinically relevant issue - particularly for patients battling ovary cancer because they develop resistance to cisplatin at a rapid rate.

Farrell said that use of the "non-covalent" approach and emphasizing cell uptake may help minimize the side effects of current platinum drugs. He said that both cell uptake and the ability of the cell to minimize the effect of DNA attack, or DNA repair, play a critical role in cellular resistance to cisplatin by altering its ability to effectively kill tumor cells. By understanding the features of cisplatin that contribute to resistance, Farrell and his team designed the new compound to circumvent these problems.


Source: Virginia Commonwealth University

Did you know?
Scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University's Massey Cancer Center have created a new platinum-based, anti-cancer agent able to overcome acquired drug resistance by first modifying the way it is absorbed into cancer cells and then attacking the DNA of those cancer cells. The findings may help scientists design a new generation of anti-cancer drugs that selectively target cancer cells, reduce resistance and side effects and expand the range of tumors that can be treated by platinum.