Al-Marsad Newspaper: Scientists have come up with a revolutionary new drug that can treat the most aggressive types of cancer.
Scientists at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, have made a discovery that may provide real hope for these patients. Patients with glioblastoma, a rapidly growing type of cancer that affects the brain and spinal cord, survive for only 15 months from the moment of diagnosis.
The team discovered that circadian clock proteins that control our natural rhythms, such as sleeping and waking, can be involved in the growth of glioblastoma tumors.
These proteins also point to why people often don’t stay in remission (a period in which symptoms are absent, or nearly go away) after cancer treatment, and see glioblastoma return.
Keck School of Medicine researchers found that a small molecule drug, called SHP656, could be used to target these circadian clock proteins and treat devastating disease. It is reported that glioblastoma can recur in the vast majority of patients, and at that time, be resistant to chemotherapy and radiation, according to Professor Steve Kay, from the Keck School of Medicine.
Kay and his team explain that the disease is often caused by cancer stem cells that spread rapidly by hijacking the body’s biological clock mechanisms. But SHP656 can be used to put an end to that.