Cancer ‘Super’ Drug Created

Tuesday, September 4, 2012 11:16 AM

By Nick Tate

University of Missouri scientists have created a new anti-cancer “super” drug in the laboratory that they said is 10 times more potent than conventional chemotherapy against breast, lung and colon cancer tumors.

In a new study published in the American Chemical Society Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, MU medicinal chemists said they have taken an existing drug under development for use against certain types of cancer, added a special structure to it and created a more potent, efficient weapon against tumor cells.

They said clinical trials designed to bring the drug to market could begin within two years.

 "Over the past decade, we have seen an increasing interest in using carboranes in drug design," said Mark W. Lee Jr., assistant professor of chemistry in College of Arts and Science. "Carboranes are clusters of three elements – boron, carbon and hydrogen. Carboranes don't fight cancer directly, but they aid in the ability of a drug to bind more tightly to its target, creating a more potent mechanism for destroying the cancer cells."

For the study, Lee and colleagues used carboranes to build new drugs that aim to shut off a cancer cell's energy production, which is vital for a tumor’s survival. The key to an effective drug is targeting the process that tumors depend on to produce energy. By increasing the binding strength of a drug, a smaller dose is required, minimizing side effects and increasing the effectiveness of the therapy. With carboranes, Lee found the drug is able to bind 10 times more powerfully.

Lee said that the discovery could lead to further uses for the drug.

"Too often, after radiation or chemotherapy, cancer cells repair themselves and reinvade the body," Lee said. "This drug not only selectively shuts off the energy production for the cancer cells, but it also inhibits the processes that allow those cancer cells to repair themselves. When we tested our carborane-based drugs, we found that they were unimaginably potent. So far, we have tested this on breast, lung and colon cancer, all with exceptional results."

He added that new drugs based on the technique his lab pioneered could be “many thousands of times more potent than the drugs that are used in the clinics today."

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