Metal Drugs: Novel Compounds for Novel Treatments
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| For millions of cancer patients, one
of the most effective available treatments is to undergo
a chemotherapy regimen. The treatment itself though can
cause adverse reactions, so bad in some cases that patients
refuse to take the drugs.
Chemotherapy destroys cancer cells by preventing them from
growing and multiplying, but healthy cells are also harmed
during the process, which is responsible for the distressing
side effects.
Scientists and doctors have long sought to eliminate these
and now a collaborative research project at the University
of Hong Kong has succeeded with early tests in an innovative
treatment using what is known as a “metal drug”.
These drugs are novel metal-containing compounds designed
in laboratories for original treatments of a variety of
diseases and new approaches to patient care. In this case
the metallic compound was synthesized by Professor Hongzhe
Sun in HKU’s Department of Chemistry as part of his research
in metal drugs using technology called metallomics and metalloproteomics.
Working in collaboration with Professor Godfrey Chan at
the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, they have proven in
lab experiments that the metal compound is effective in
preventing chemotherapy toxicity in healthy cells.
This is just one of many potential uses of metal drugs
as ongoing and new research creates more novel compounds
that the two professors have shown to be effective in early
anti-cancer and anti-ulcer tests.
Research on metal drugs began more than 30 years ago with
the development of platinum drugs from cisplatin, which
is now commonly used in chemotherapy regimens for solid
tumours.
Professor Sun has also identified potential drug-binding
proteins from pathogens while he and his team have used
protein-chemistry and molecular-biology to validate targets
for effective drug design.
The bismuth-containing drug used and developed by HKU over
the past decade is also used to fight the common Helicobacter
Pylori infection. This is a bacteria that is present in
half of humans and it has been recognized as a cause of
about 50% of stomach cancers.
Work on these and other metal drugs is still in the developmental
phase but the research has tremendous long-term potential
as Professor Sun and Professor Chan explain in this short
video.
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