New Drug May Protect Healthy Cells Against Radiotherapy
April 12, 2008 by Gloria Gamat
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Injection of the drug CBLB502 has the potential to protect a cancer patient’s healthy cells during radiation treatment.
At least in mice and monkeys’ study, it worked that way!
Mice and monkeys exposed to normally-lethal doses of radiation treatment have lived longer after being injected with the drug CBLB502.
Radiotherapy is used to kill cancer-infected cells through radiation. However, the treatment also kills healthy cells surrounding the cancer-affected area through a biological suicide mechanism, or apoptosis.
The biological suicide is a reaction activated by the body in order to stop the multiplication of damaged DNA and cells. Radiotherapists must balance targeting too much radiation at the risk of killing healthy cells or protecting the healthy cells but possibly not wiping out all of the cancer.
Is CBLB502 the first of its kind that will protect healthy cells from radiation while at the same time not protecting the cancer cells?
CBLB502 is a product of Cleveland BioLabs.
Read the full report.
“Is CBLB502 the first of its kind that will protect healthy cells from radiation while at the same time not protecting the cancer cells?”
No, there are other desensitizers for healthy tissues, but a better drug would certainly be useful.