OF4-10/22/09 9:25 AM
PROTECTING HEALTHY CELLS DURING CANCER TREATMENTS.
The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood.
The Holy Grail of radiation therapy for cancer would be to be to find a way to stop the radiation from hurting healthy cells.
And now, working with lab mice, some researchers at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine may have found that.
SOT - Dr. Jeff Isenberg, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
"Not only a 'Holy Grail' leap forward in terms of radiation therapy for cancer, but it also might represent a novel way to protect people from industrial or military exposure to radiation." (:11)
The story after this...
((( SPOTS )))
There's always been one big problem with radiation therapy for cancer.
SOT - Dr. Jeff Isenberg
"Cancer cells might indeed be treated by the radiation --- but at the same time, you had disabling and sometimes overwhelming complications in normal tissues and organ systems." (:09)
Dr. Jeff Isenburg is one of the leaders of a University of Pittsburgh Med School group that found a way to block a pathway molecule called thrombospondin in mice, so that normal healthy cells would hardly be affected at all by radiation aimed at tumors.
SOT - Dr. Jeff Isenberg
"The cells are essentially rendered almost immune to the negative effects." (:05)
The radiation does what you want it to...
SOT - Dr. Jeff Isenberg
"The radiation could kill the cancer cells --- and yet the normal cells displayed this interesting tendency of being highly resistant to the deadly effects of radiation." (:08)
All the healthy cells are protected?
SOT - Dr. Jeff Isenberg
"Even the most sensitive cell types --- like bone marrow cells, which were exquisitely sensitive to radiation and they're some of the first cells killed and damaged --- we found complete protection in these cell types." (:09)
The technique might have implications beyond cancer radiation therapy, says Dr. Isenberg.
SOT - Dr. Jeff Isenberg
"One of the most interesting new experiments that myself and my collaborator are pursuing in the immediate future is to look at this as a protectant against accidental exposure to nuclear radiation." (:10)
Since the blocking technique has been used only on mice to this point, it's going to take a lot more experimentation and research before it can be tried on humans.
But as Dr. Isenberg says, we couldn't believe what we saw.
The Osgood File. Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
The Osgood File. October 22nd, 2009. |
|
|
