ERIN PEARSON
Deakin University is on the verge of creating a “smart bomb” to kill cancer, according to a researcher.
Deakin Medical School nanomedicine program director Professor Wei Duan said the drug had “huge implications” for detecting and treating cancer.
“It’s very important nowadays to improve the effectiveness of cancer treatment to target the cancer cell. Current available methods for treatment such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy kill the non-cancer and cancerous cells, which is why so many people get sick,” Prof Duan said.
“We’re targeting the cancer cell only with this smart bomb for more-effective and less-physically-impacting treatments.”
“The cancer stem cell-targeting missile and the smart bomb could revolutionise the way cancer is diagnosed. This could ultimately lead to better cancer survival rates and greatly improved quality of life for patients.”
Prof Duan said the drug targeted a special protein appearing only in cancerous cells to kill the disease.
“We’re still in the preclinical stage but in theory this should work much better than conventional cancer treatments, which kill cells indiscriminately,” he said.
“Current cancer treatments destroy the cells that form the bulk of the tumour but are largely ineffective against the root of the cancer – the cancer stem cells. This suggests that in order to provide a cure for cancer we must accurately detect and eliminate the cancer stem cells.”
Prof Duan said the research team was about to begin testing the drug on animals.
The project was a partnership between Deakin University, Indian Institute of Science, Barwon Health’s Andrew Love Cancer Centre and ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals, h e said
