Mumbai: Doctors at the Tata Memorial Center here say they have discovered a mechanism for cancer metastasis and developed nutraceutical therapy to reduce its risk. According to their decade-long research published in prestigious journals, dying cancer cells release 'chromosome fragments' (chromatin), which sometimes combine with healthy cells and cause new tumors.
Nutraceutical is a food or food product that provides health benefits beyond basic nutrition, often due to additional bioactive compounds or medicinal properties.
Study reveals dangers of chemo, radiotherapy
Although many patients have been cured of cancer, our study highlights the potential risks involved in current cancer treatment methods,” Dr Indranil Mitra, who led the research, said on Monday. While chemotherapy and radiotherapy kill the primary tumor cells, they cause the dying cancer cells to release chromatin – called CFChP – which can enter healthy cells elsewhere in the body through the blood and ” There can cause cancer”.
Further trials on CFCHP showed that a nutraceutical made from copper and a plant (grapes or berries) could inactivate them and reduce the risk of metastasis, said Dr Rajendra Badve, former TMC director, who was present at the press conference. Said. TMC has tied up with a nutraceutical manufacturer to make the drug – which can be prescribed as an adjunctive treatment with chemotherapy – available in June.
Cancer metastasis has been a subject of intrigue for centuries. “How does cancer spread? There are cases where even after treatment has removed the cancerous tumor, the patient still dies,” said Dr Mitra. His team injected human breast cancer cells into mice. “We first treated tumors grown in mice, biopsied the brain and found CFHPs of human cancer cells there,” said Dr Mitra.
They conducted various research rounds using surgery, chemotherapy and radiation and found similar results. Part of the study injected tumor-bearing mice with the nutraceutical. “Brain biopsies of these mice revealed low levels of CFCHP,” he said.
In the past few years, doctors have begun to study the effects of the nutraceutical — called R-Cu because it is a combination of grape-extract resveratrol and copper — on humans. In some patients with oral, blood, stomach, and brain cancers, doctors added R-CU to standard treatment with encouraging results.
“We used it in 20 blood cancer patients who had developed painful ulcers in their mouth and esophagus after bone marrow transplant,” said Dr Naveen Khatri, deputy director of TMC. Patients who received R-CU had fewer ulcers. Similar findings among colon cancer patients were published in Medical Oncology, an indexed journal, in November 2022, he said.
Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, an oral cancer surgeon who tested the drug on oral cancer patients, said, “Our findings lead to the conclusion that relatively inexpensive nutraceuticals can be used as adjuvants to reduce the toxicity of chemotherapy “
Doctors said their findings have important implications for cancer treatment policies. First, physicians need to consider CFCHP as a possible cause of metastatic cancer spread, not just metastasis caused by the migration of cancer cells. “Secondly, cancer treatment protocols may need to include agents that inactivate or destroy CFHPs,” Dr. Badway said.
Nutraceutical is a food or food product that provides health benefits beyond basic nutrition, often due to additional bioactive compounds or medicinal properties.
Study reveals dangers of chemo, radiotherapy
Although many patients have been cured of cancer, our study highlights the potential risks involved in current cancer treatment methods,” Dr Indranil Mitra, who led the research, said on Monday. While chemotherapy and radiotherapy kill the primary tumor cells, they cause the dying cancer cells to release chromatin – called CFChP – which can enter healthy cells elsewhere in the body through the blood and ” There can cause cancer”.
Further trials on CFCHP showed that a nutraceutical made from copper and a plant (grapes or berries) could inactivate them and reduce the risk of metastasis, said Dr Rajendra Badve, former TMC director, who was present at the press conference. Said. TMC has tied up with a nutraceutical manufacturer to make the drug – which can be prescribed as an adjunctive treatment with chemotherapy – available in June.
Cancer metastasis has been a subject of intrigue for centuries. “How does cancer spread? There are cases where even after treatment has removed the cancerous tumor, the patient still dies,” said Dr Mitra. His team injected human breast cancer cells into mice. “We first treated tumors grown in mice, biopsied the brain and found CFHPs of human cancer cells there,” said Dr Mitra.
They conducted various research rounds using surgery, chemotherapy and radiation and found similar results. Part of the study injected tumor-bearing mice with the nutraceutical. “Brain biopsies of these mice revealed low levels of CFCHP,” he said.
Increase
“We used it in 20 blood cancer patients who had developed painful ulcers in their mouth and esophagus after bone marrow transplant,” said Dr Naveen Khatri, deputy director of TMC. Patients who received R-CU had fewer ulcers. Similar findings among colon cancer patients were published in Medical Oncology, an indexed journal, in November 2022, he said.
Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, an oral cancer surgeon who tested the drug on oral cancer patients, said, “Our findings lead to the conclusion that relatively inexpensive nutraceuticals can be used as adjuvants to reduce the toxicity of chemotherapy “
Doctors said their findings have important implications for cancer treatment policies. First, physicians need to consider CFCHP as a possible cause of metastatic cancer spread, not just metastasis caused by the migration of cancer cells. “Secondly, cancer treatment protocols may need to include agents that inactivate or destroy CFHPs,” Dr. Badway said.