Scientists Find Stroke Drug Could Kill Cancer

Teresa Neumann : Nov 9, 2009
Ofri Ilani - Haaretz

"We actually found the Achilles heel of the cancer cell. We don't even fully understand why this is happening, but we see cancerous cells die and healthy cells overcome this obstacle."

(Israel)—Israeli scientists at Tel Aviv Universitiy and Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, have identified a substance that can kill cancerous cells without harming healthy ones. The findings were published in the current issue of the international peer-reviewed journal Breast Cancer Research.

"We actually found the Achilles heel of the cancer cell," said Prof. Malka Cohen-Armon from Tel Aviv University, who headed the research team. "As soon as you can target cancerous cells without killing healthy ones, you can produce medications that would cause a lot less suffering to the patient. We can even give a much more aggressive treatment without worrying about harming healthy tissues." (Photo by: Franklin Carrero)

As reported in Haaretz, the substance identified by the researchers, which delays cell proliferation in healthy and cancerous cells, is a component of a drug developed a decade ago to preserve nerve cells and prevent them from dying after a stroke.

Said Cohen-Armon: "We don't even fully understand why this is happening, but we see cancerous cells die and healthy cells overcome this obstacle. They somehow find a way to proliferate even in the presence of the substance."

According to the report, one of the obstacles to applying the discovery to all forms of cancer is that the medicine is registered as a patent of an American pharmaceutical company. Tel Aviv University's technology transfer company, Ramot, has secured a usage patent enabling it to develop the drug to treat only breast cancer.

"We really want to develop this drug, but there are some completely non-scientific obstacles," Cohen-Armon said. "I hope the research doesn't fade away because of that."