Prostate cancer kills thousands of men each month. This silent killer is also sometimes resistant to drugs, which makes it even deadlier. That’s why doctors have been searching for a cure that can answer this very problem. They want to beat prostate cancer and find the right kind medicine for it.
With the exhaustive work that they’ve done, they found that large doses of iron may be used by patients in order to kill off drug-resistant prostate cancer cells. This is what scientists believe based on the findings they made.
This problem is actually more prevalent than you know. That’s because there are different treatments for this type of cancer. While many work in the beginning and patients see positive results, some cancers develop resistance after 18 to 24 months. This reaction limits the choices they have and may even put their lives in further danger.
Recently, a team of scientists under the leadership of Dr. Chunhong Yan of the Medical College of Georgia have hopes that in using iron, this will be able to fight the stubborn cancer cells as it goes through a process they call ferroptosis. This word comes from the Latin word for Iron (ferro) and the word for cell death (optosis).
Iron plays a vital role in red blood cells. This transports oxygen around the body. However, too much of it can also be toxic, or even lethal, to cells. That’s because iron produces a lot of toxic free radicals, which are reactive oxygen species (ROS). This damages the fat component found in the cellular membrane. For those who don’t know much about this, lipids, or fats, are crucial when it comes to storing energy used and for internal cell signaling. The free radicals in iron may make them lose their flexibility and efficiency until it goes through cell death. The reason behind this process remains unclear to this very day.
Prostate cancer cells are unique because these are unusually resistant to this type of destruction. The reason behind this is because their lipids are already changed to have the energy needed for growth and spread.
Dr. Yan’s team searched for possible solutions to this issue and has found a gene that they call ATF3. This gene lowers the stress threshold of prostate cancer cells, allowing them to become more vulnerable to a new iron compound that they call JKE-1674. The latter is the one that precisely induces ferroptosis.
“When the cell takes up iron, it goes through different processes, which generate a lot of ROS,” Dr. Yan said. “What we are trying to do is take advantage of this side effect to treat prostate cancer,” he also added.
The team is still working on a $1.1 million idea development award from the U.S. Department of Defense. With their research, the team also discovered that by combining a chemotherapy drug with one of the body’s natural mechanisms, this may help eradicate and kill the prostate cancer cells that have wreaked havoc on the body.
Right now, they have also created a drug. They call this bortezomib. Its main task is to assist in activating the ATF3 gene while the compound JKE-1674 stops a process called glutathione peroxidase 4. The so-called process happens when it separates iron and free radicals as it opens the cells up to repair themselves.
Dr. Yan and his team have performed the needed clinical trials. These have shown that bortezomib is not as effective when it comes to treating prostate cancer when used by itself. But when this is combined with JKE-1674, it actually turns into a powerful and very effective cure.
Several process have yet to be done, but the next steps include conducting experiments on mice so that they will be able to see whether advanced prostate cancer can be neutralized with the use of ferroptosis.
The scientists also got their hands on a genetically engineered mouse that can produce more ATF3. They will look closer to observe and see whether this makes process will also make prostate cancer cells more vulnerable to ferroptosis.
At this point in time, Dr. Yan is looking to develop a therapy that could move quickly from the lab to a clinical trial. He wants to find something that will help combat cancer because this is one of the most common form of cancers for men all across the globe. They are very much hopeful with the incoming results.
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