OMRF identifies new method that may improve treatment of ovarian cancers

OKLAHOMA CITY, January 18, 2010 – The problem with killing cancer is that it comes back. But new research from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation could pave the way for therapies that avoid this problem.

The pre-clinical work has already shown promise in killing ovarian cancer cells. Researchers hope the approach, which stems drug resistance, might also prove effective in treating other forms of cancers.

“When we use drugs to kill cancer, we almost never kill all of it,” said OMRF scientist Amit Maiti, Ph.D. “And when the cancer comes back, it’s resistant to the drug, which makes it harder to kill.”

In a paper published in the online edition of Pharmacogenomics Journal, Maiti has identified genes that could be manipulated to keep cancer cells from surviving drug treatment. “If we could prevent cancers from becoming drug-resistant, it could improve treatment outcomes,” said Maiti.

When cells in our body produce energy, they create a byproduct called reactive oxygen species (ROS). Cancer cells, which grow continuously, have higher levels of these byproducts. When anti-cancer drugs are used, the level of byproducts in those cells decreases, and the cells become drug-resistant.

Maiti suspected that if he could keep ROS levels high in cancer cells, they might not become drug-resistant. So in the culture medium, he took drug-resistant ovarian cancer cells and treated them with an anti-cancer drug and a small dose of ROS.

“It killed them all, 100 percent,” he said. “So we know that by increasing ROS levels in drug-resistant cancer cells, we make them vulnerable to drugs again.”

In humans or other living creatures, injecting ROS into cells is extremely challenging. So Maiti is looking at ways to alter gene function that would achieve the same results.

The next step will be testing the approach in laboratory mice.

“There’s lots of work to be done, but there’s a lot to be hopeful for, too,” Maiti said. “If this works in ovarian cancer, there’s no reason it couldn’t also work in other types of recurring cancer, like breast and colon cancers.”

About OMRF
OMRF (omrf.org) is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding and developing more effective treatments for human diseases.  Chartered in 1946, its scientists focus on such critical research areas as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, lupus and cardiovascular disease.

About ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer mainly develops in women over the age of 60. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 20,000 new cases of ovarian cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year, and almost 15,000 American women will die of the disease in 2010. It accounts for more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system.

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