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Synthetic drug shows promise in brain cancer
Wednesday September 26, 2012 10:36:17 PM,
IANS
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Washington: Researchers led by an Indian-origin investigator are testing the
suitability of a synthetic cannabinoid drug - dexanabinol - for
curing brain cancer. Preliminary tests show that it kills cultured
cancer cells derived from many tumour types, a US report says.
Additional research in Santosh Kesari's neuro-oncology lab at the
University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center,
demonstrated the drug's anti-cancer effects in patient-derived
brain cancer cell lines. Kesari is the principal
study-investigator.
It could be given as a weekly intravenous infusion. More recently,
researchers at e-Therapeutics, the study sponsor, showed that
dexanabinol (ETS2101) kills cultured cancer cells derived from
many tumour types.
"In this Phase I study, we are examining the safety of multiple
doses of dexanabinol, extent of penetration into the brain, and
suitability for future trials. What we hope to determine is the
safe and optimal dose of drug in the brain," said Kesari,
according to a California statement.
Dexanabinol is a cannabinoid derivative that causes no
psychotropic (altering perception or behaviour) effects. It was
tested previously as a neuro-protective in patients with traumatic
brain injury. During these trials the drug was found to cross the
blood-brain barrier.
The blood-brain barrier has been defined by The Free Dictionary
"as a physiological mechanism that alters the permeability of
brain capillaries so that certain drugs are prevented from
entering brain tissue, while other substances are allowed to enter
freely."
Dexanabinol's potential in fighting cancer was identified through
a new approach to drug discovery called network pharmacology, a
way to analyze the network of proteins underlying a disease
process.
Network pharmacology enables scientists to seek drugs from among
existing compounds, or design new molecules, that act
simultaneously on a number of individual proteins to disrupt the
cancer-susceptible network.
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