A team of researchers have found two chemical compounds, which can effectively inhibit the growth of brain cancer cells and breast tumors. The advancement in the research will help the scientists to develop an effective drug to stop the growth of the cancer cells.
James Turkson from University of Hawaii Cancer Centre said, ” It is particularly encouraging to the brain-tumor patients, who do not have a effective treatment till date, besides surgery. The success of the research helps us to come up with a stronger treatment with less toxic effects to curb cancer.”
“The targeted treatment will give the patients a better quality of life, after the two compounds are developed as drugs,” Turkson added.
In the study published in the journal Cancer Research, the researchers examined compounds that inhibit Stat3, a protein implicated in a variety of cancers that include brain and breast cancers.
The results confirmed the effective inhibition of the cancer cells, when tested on the mice in lab conditions. The two chemical compounds, a hydroxamic acid-based inhibitor (SH5-07), and a benzoic acid-based inhibitor (SH4-54) designed at the UH Cancer Center stopped the growth of brain and breast cancer cells by blocking a certain function of the Stat3 protein, the Business standard reports.
The two compounds stop the protein from helping the cancer cells to develop. This in turn inhibits the growth of the tumor.
