To All My Dear Friends,
I came across this bit of news today while visiting CNN News website and
thought I'd pass it along. Always can use the good news!
Initial results of an experimental treatment tricks tumors into
"swallowing poison". It shrank tumors by at least half in 9 of 15
patients. It was conducted by the National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke and reported on in the December issue of the journal
Nature Medicine. The experimental treatment took advantage of brain
cancer's appitite for iron. To attact iron, tumor cells sprout chemical
hitching posts that grab transferrin, a substance that shuttles iron to
the brain.
For the treatment, researchers joined molecules of transferrin to
molecules of diphtheria toxin. The toxin was altered so it would not
harm normal cells, but it would still poison cancer cells that sucked it
in with the transferrin. The transferrin-toxin was slowly pumped into
the patients' brain, at or near the tumor, over several days. Most
patients had several treatments.
For more information you might try hhtp://www.ninds.nih.gov
Ain't science great!!!
God Bless and a Happy Thanksgiving to All,
John Lehner
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