メディエイゴ

Researchers(1) at the University of Washington have updated(2) a traditional Chinese medicine(3) to create a compound(4) that is more than 1,200 times more specific(5) in killing certain kinds of cancer cells(6) than currently(7) available drugs, heralding(8) the possibility of a more effective chemotherapy(9) drug with minimal(10) side effects(11).

The new compound puts a novel twist on(12) the common anti-malarial drug(13) artemisinin(14), which is derived from(15) the sweet wormwood(16) plant (Artemisia annua L(17)). Sweet wormwood has been used in herbal Chinese medicine(18) for at least 2,000 years, and is eaten in salads in some Asian countries.

The scientists attached a chemical homing device(19) to artemisinin that targets the drug selectively(20) to cancer cells, sparing healthy cells. The results were published online(21) Oct. 5 in the journal Cancer Letters.

"The compound is like a special agent planting a bomb(22) inside the cell," said Tomikazu Sasaki, chemistry professor at UW and senior author(23) of the study.

In the study, the UW researchers tested their artemisinin-based(24) compound on human leukemia(25) cells. It was highly selective(26) at killing the cancer cells. The researchers also have preliminary(27) results showing that the compound is similarly(28) selective and effective for human breast and prostate cancer(29) cells, and that it effectively(30) and safely kills breast cancer in rats(31), Sasaki said.

Cancer drug designers are faced with(32) the unique challenge that cancer cells develop from our own normal cells, meaning that most ways to poison(33) cancer cells also kill healthy cells. Most available chemotherapies are very toxic(34), destroying one normal cell for every five to 10 cancer cells killed, Sasaki said.