A new cancer treatment harnessing part of the
malaria parasite could kill nine out of 10 types of the disease, it has
emerged.
A team of Danish and Canadian scientists stumbled
across the breakthrough while hunting for a weapon to fight malaria in pregnant
women.
Their study revealed that armed malaria proteins
can kill cancer.
Raising hopes of a genuine medical treatment for
the disease, the researchers say they hope to begin human trials within the
next four years. 4
Scientists at the University of Copenhagen stumbled
across the discovery while hunting for a weapon to fight malaria. They
discovered a carbohydrate that the malaria parasite, illustrated, attaches
itself to the placenta of of pregnant women, is identical to a carbohydrate
found in cancer cells
Malaria expert, professor Ali Salanti from the
University of Copenhagen, revealed that the carbohydrate that the malaria parasite
attaches itself to in the placenta of pregnant women, is identical to a
carbohydrate found in cancer cells.
In the laboratory, his team have created a protein
that the malaria parasite uses to adhere to the placenta, and they've added a
toxin.
This combination of malaria protein and toxin seeks
out the cancer cells, before being absorbed by the diseased cells. The
toxin is then released inside, triggering a process which kills the cancer
cells.
Professor Salanti, working in collaboration with
cancer researcher Mads Daugaard from the University of Columbia, has observed
the process in cell cultures and in mice with cancer.
Professor Salanti said:' For decades, scientists
have been searching for similarities between the growth of a placenta and a
tumour.
'The placenta is an organ, which within a few
months grows from only a few cells into an organ weighing approximately two
pounds, and it provides the embryo with oxygen and nourishment in a relatively
foreign environment.
'In a manner of speaking, tumours do much the same.
'They grow aggressively in a relatively foreign
environment.'
Professor Salanti and his team are now testing a
vaccine against malaria in humans.
It was in connection with the development of this
new drug, that he made the discovery that the carbohydrate in the placenta was
also present in cancer tumours.
Upon making the discovery, Professor Salanti
immediately contacted his former student, and now cancer researcher Dr
Daugaard, who is head of the Laboratory of Molecular Pathology at the Vancover
Prostate Cancer at UBC.
Working together, the two groups of scientists have
generated findings, which they hope will provide the basis for a drug to fight
cancer.
Professor Salanti said: 'We examined the
carbohydrate's function.
'In the placenta, it helps ensure fast growth. Our
experiments showed that it was the same in cancer tumours.
'We combined the malaria parasite with cancer cells
and the parasite reacted to the cancer cells as if they were a placenta and
attached itself.'
The two groups of researchers have tested thousands
of samples from brain tumours to leukaemias, and a general picture has emerged.
Their findings indicate that the malaria protein is
able to attack more than 90 per cent of all human tumours:
·
With non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the
treated mice's tumours were about a quarter the size of the tumours in a
control group
·
With prostate cancer, the tumours
disappeared in two of the six treated mice a month after receiving the first
dose.
·
With metastatic bone cancer, five our
of six of the treated mice were alive after almost eight weeks, compared to no
mice in the control group
Dr Duagaard said: 'We have separated the malaria
protein, which attaches itself to the carbohydrate and then added a toxin.
'By conducting tests on mice, we have been able to
show that the combination of protein and toxin kill the cancer cells.'
Dr Thomas Mandel Clausen, a PhD student involved
with the project for the last two years, added: 'It appears that the malaria
protein attaches itself to the tumour without any significant attachment to
other tissue.
'And the mice that were given doses of protein and
toxin showed far higher survival rates than the untreated mice.
'We have seen that three doses can arrest growth in
a tumour and even make it shrink.'
Ironically, the only drawback appears to be the
fact the treatment would not be available for pregnant women.
Professor Salanti said: 'Expressed in popular
terms, the toxin will believe that the placenta is a tumour and kill it, in
exactly the same way it will believe that the tumour is a placenta.'
In collaboration with the scientists behind the
discovery, the University of Copenhagen has created a biotech company,
VAR2pharmaceuticals to drive the clinical development forward.
Daily Mail UK
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