SYDNEY, May 28 (Xinhua) -- An Australian study has identified a potential treatment method for aggressive cancer types, which currently leave sufferers with very few options.
Scientists from the Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in Sydney and St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research (SVI) in Melbourne, said on Tuesday that they had successfully identified a mechanism to stop the reproduction of certain cancerous cells.
"Normal cells know when to stop dividing due to structures at the ends of chromosomes called telomeres," senior author, associate professor Hilda Pickett from CMRI, told Xinhua.
"Cancer cells overcome the telomeres telling them to stop dividing, essentially making them immortal."
To do this, around 40 percent of bone and soft tissue sarcomas use a mechanism called, alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT).
"There are currently no specific therapies for ALT-positive sarcomas," co-author Dr Julienne O'Rourke from SVI said.
"People with this type of cancer have a 50-percent higher rate of death, as these cancers are more resistant to current treatments."
The team found that when they disrupt a particular protein called FANCM, which is essential for ALT cell viability, they could stop these types of cancer cells from dividing.
"We've understood what this protein does in these ALT cells and we've also used a drug which inhibits the function that's very specific to these ALT cancers," Pickett said.
While still in the very early stages of development, the team is hopeful that in the future their discovery could have a significant impact for those suffering these particularly aggressive cancers.
"This discovery is really the first hope to target ALT cancers, they will obviously need to be a lot of work to take it through to the clinic," Pickett said.
"We're all excited by the life-changing potential for people with these cancers; it's not every day you make discoveries that could lead to treatments that could save not a few, but many, precious lives." Enditem
