Scientists make cancer cells self-destruct

                      
Cancer: new chemical compound acts on cancer cells more accurately than any existing treatment


Washington - A team of US scientists discovered a possible drug that causes cancer cells to self-destruct, according to published on Monday the journal "Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences" (PNAS).

The new chemical compound acts on cancer cells more accurately than any existing treatment, according to research by scientists at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in Florida.

The breakthrough of this possible remedy, which has been tested in animals is the precision, since directly attacks the cells that cause cancer, including those that are hidden, and does not affect the healthy cells.

This active chemical mechanism by which cancer cells "kill themselves" in a "scheduled", explained Professor Matthew Disney, who led the research team.

The discovery can be implemented in the main cancer drugs currently used for treatment in order to improve the identification of cancer cells and act directly against them.

This means that would not only be an effective treatment also act directly on the tumor, with that minimizes the damage to healthy cells.

To date, the most accurate treatment required a longer waiting time or were longer. However, this compound improves the handling in all directions: it is faster, more efficient and less aggressive.

The type of cancer in which the treatment is more effective is the breast cancer fastest growing, representing between 10% and 20% of cases of breast cancer.

Disney Lab researchers hope the drug, once approved, can be applied in the future to all types of tumors and even to combat serious viral diseases such as Ebola and zika.

This discovery was made possible with the application of engineering and computer science to medicine, a strategy in which are pioneering the TSRI Labs, one of the largest organizations specializing in biomedical research.