Russian and Slovenian scientists develop new integrated cancer therapy

Scientists from Russia’s Tomsk in Siberia and their colleagues from Slovenia have come up with a new cancer therapy believed to be “unrivaled” globally and preventing resistance in patients, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported. According to Academician Sergei Psakhye, the director of Tomsk’s Institute of Strengths Physics and Materials Science (ISPMS) whose words were quoted in the news, the researchers have learned how to inhibit the growth and multiplication of cancerous cells, using a special material. 

 

Earlier ISPMS scientists and their colleagues from the Siberian State Medical University and the Research Institute of Pharmacology, two more think-tanks in Tomsk, developed wound-healing bandages that are said to have active sorbents which apparently apply static electricity to remove microorganisms from a wound and keep them outside, disabling their multiplication properties. That was reported to have noticeably reduced the time of healing grave wounds and made the administering of antibiotics redundant. 

Mr. Psakhye now said that researchers at the Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) are relying on ongoing support from the Russian Scientific Fund to develop the next generation of such electrically charged materials. 

“This is a completely new approach to fighting malignant tumors. Colleagues from Slovenia’s Jožef Stefan Institute [a Slovenian leader in natural sciences, life sciences and engineering] believe the new materials should be used in integrated therapies to enhance the impact of existing chemotherapy agents. According to their estimates, such a combination could help reduce the dose of chemicals used in treatment by at least 20-30 times,” the Russian scientist said. 

Joint research appears to have shown that when impacting cancerous cells, the new material hampers a cell’s metabolism with an outer medium as it grows, thus depriving the cell of ‘food’ and impeding its growth and multiplication, Mr. Psakhye explained. “We completed a test on lab animals suffering from breast cancer, and the test was successful. Now we have launched an experiment on an animal with melanoma, a malignant tumor on the skin,” he added. 

According to the Russian scientist, the team is seeking an international patent. The material is being developed in Tomsk, while testing takes place in Europe. “We expect that in two years at the latest this new method and material will reach patients,” he said.