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Science Forum Index » Medicine - Cancer Forum » Pro-vitamin E Shown To Be Active Against Breast Cancer Cells
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| Roman Bystrianyk |
 Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2006 1:21 pm |
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Guest
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"Pro-vitamin E Shown To Be Active Against Breast Cancer Cells", Science
Daily, December 9, 2006,
Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061209084023.htm
A precursor of vitamin E has been shown to be effective against breast
cancer cell lines which over-express human epidermal growth factor
receptor (HER2).
About 30% of breast cancers exhibit high levels of HER2 -- a feature
that appears to make the disease resistant to many common treatments
including chemotherapeutic agents.
Now researchers in Griffith University's School of Medical Science have
shown that pro-vitamin E or alpha-tocopheryl succinate can reduce
tumour volume in experimental animals with high levels of HER2.
Chief investigator Associate Professor Jiri Neuzil said
alpha-tocopheryl succinate (alpha-TOS) had the potential to be an
inexpensive, safe and selective therapy for hard-to-treat breast
cancers.
"Alpha-TOS has already shown promise as a potent anticancer agent in
diseases such as colon cancer and mesothelioma. It induces controlled
cell death or apoptosis in tumour cells."
Transgenic mice with high HER2 breast cancers were treated over a three
week period and tumour size was monitored every three days by
ultrasound imaging.
The high resolution ultrasound allows for more accurate measurement of
tumour volume than any other non-invasive technique.
The research team found that while alpha-TOS is effective alone, it can
be delivered into the tumour cells more efficiently when given in a
conjugate form with a targeting peptide.
"Tumour volume reduced more than 50% when animals were treated with the
conjugate rather than free alpha-TOS," Associate Professor Neuzil said.
He said one of the benefits of alpha-TOS as a potential anti-cancer
drug was that it was metabolised in the liver to vitamin E and unlikely
to cause dangerous side effects.
Associate Professor Neuzil is presenting his results at the Gold Coast
Health and Medical Research Conference next week. The conference, an
initiative of the Griffith Institute of Health and Medical Research,
will be held December 14-15, at the Radisson Palm Meadows Resort, Gold
Coast. |
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