Researchers at St James's Hospital, funded by the Irish Cancer Society, are testing a new drug that selectively kills leukaemia cells while leaving healthy cells alone. The remarkable new drug may also be effective against breast cancer cells.
Information about the drug was released yesterday as the Irish Cancer Society announced details of its research programme for 2002.
It has increased research funding by 33 per cent to €795,000 according to its chief executive, Mr Barry Dempsey.
The new drug would not be available for use in humans for some years but was very promising, according to Dr Mark Lawler of St James's Hospital, Dublin, and of the Institute for Molecular Medicine at Trinity College. "The results to date are quite exciting," he said yesterday.
"What we found was that in the leukaemia cells they were driven into cell death. It has a selective effect on leukaemia cells."
The researchers also found that it prevented leukaemia cells from becoming resistant to chemotherapy drugs, a common problem in cancer therapy.
The drug is based on a protein that regulates cell growth. It occurs naturally in the body and was discovered by researchers in King's College London. "They approached us because they were interested in how it might affect cancer cells," Dr Lawler said.
The Dublin team tested it in the lab against leukaemia cells, and the London group used it against cultured breast cancer cells. In both cases it destroyed the cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone, Dr Lawler explained.
"What happens is it appears to block the cell growth cycle," he said. "It essentially stops the cells from growing."
When the drug is introduced all cells are affected, but when it is withdrawn healthy cells continue growing while cancer cells go into a process of cell death.
