Researchers Use Supplements to Produce Remarkable Outcomes in Brain Cancer Treatment
A new study done in India has produced results that bring into question the longstanding assumption that treating cancer requires tumors to be destroyed. The researchers attained remarkable results by using another approach, treating the tumor rather than attacking it, and their approach was effective in taming the aggressiveness of glioblastoma while also toning down many biomarkers that indicate the severity of the cancer.
For a while, many researchers have been growing in conviction that the way cancer is treated needs to change from efforts geared at destroying cancer cells (through chemotherapy, surgery and radiation) to regarding cancer as a wound that needs to be helped to heal. This thinking was first suggested by Doctor Harold Dvorak back in 1986. He said wounds and cancer share many characteristics, so it would be beneficial to consider treating cancer in the same way that wounds are treated.
The recent study whose findings were published in the journal BJC Reports focused on a small group of patients diagnosed with glioblastoma who were scheduled to undergo surgery to remove the tumors. Prof. Indraneel Mittra led the study team. 10 patients were given a nutraceutical tablet containing copper and resveratrol. This tablet was to be taken four times daily, for about 12 days. The team enrolled another ten patients whose cancer had similar characteristics with that of the group taking the supplement. This second group was the control group.
All the patients underwent their scheduled surgeries and tumor samples were obtained from all of them. These were then analyzed using a variety of tools including immune-staining, microscopy, transcriptome analysis and immunofluorescence. These tests were aimed at establishing how the tumors from the two sets of patients differed.
The results of the group given nutraceuticals were striking. Their tumors showed a nearly 33% lower presence of a key protein that indicates tumor aggressiveness, which shows that their tumors weren’t growing as aggressively as those of the control group. Checkpoints, the proteins that thwart immune systems from attacking cancer, were also 41% lower in the nutraceutical group. Cancer stem cells were also 56% lower in the treatment group, which meant that their tumors were significantly less able to repair their damaged cells or even spread as quickly.
It is also noteworthy that none of the subjects given the nutraceutical experienced any side effects. This suggests that this simple treatment could deliver these remarkable results without posing any risks to the patients, in contrast to existing treatments like chemotherapy that often trigger debilitating side effects.
While the study involved a small number of participants, Prof. Mittra is convinced that the remarkable results they found could be replicated in a study having a larger sample size. This study provides proof of concept that a paradigm shift in the way cancer treatment is approached is warranted.
As this possible new approach is studied further, companies like CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are also making progress in developing new therapies against brain cancer that could be more effective than existing alternatives.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CNSP
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the BioMedWire website applicable to all content provided by BMW, wherever published or re-published: http://BMW.fm/Disclaimer
A new study done in India has produced results that bring into question the longstanding assumption that treating cancer requires tumors to be destroyed. The researchers attained remarkable results by using another approach, treating the tumor rather than attacking it, and their approach was effective in taming the aggressiveness of glioblastoma while also toning down many biomarkers that indicate the severity of the cancer.
For a while, many researchers have been growing in conviction that the way cancer is treated needs to change from efforts geared at destroying cancer cells (through chemotherapy, surgery and radiation) to regarding cancer as a wound that needs to be helped to heal. This thinking was first suggested by Doctor Harold Dvorak back in 1986. He said wounds and cancer share many characteristics, so it would be beneficial to consider treating cancer in the same way that wounds are treated.
The recent study whose findings were published in the journal BJC Reports focused on a small group of patients diagnosed with glioblastoma who were scheduled to undergo surgery to remove the tumors. Prof. Indraneel Mittra led the study team. 10 patients were given a nutraceutical tablet containing copper and resveratrol. This tablet was to be taken four times daily, for about 12 days. The team enrolled another ten patients whose cancer had similar characteristics with that of the group taking the supplement. This second group was the control group.
All the patients underwent their scheduled surgeries and tumor samples were obtained from all of them. These were then analyzed using a variety of tools including immune-staining, microscopy, transcriptome analysis and immunofluorescence. These tests were aimed at establishing how the tumors from the two sets of patients differed.
The results of the group given nutraceuticals were striking. Their tumors showed a nearly 33% lower presence of a key protein that indicates tumor aggressiveness, which shows that their tumors weren’t growing as aggressively as those of the control group. Checkpoints, the proteins that thwart immune systems from attacking cancer, were also 41% lower in the nutraceutical group. Cancer stem cells were also 56% lower in the treatment group, which meant that their tumors were significantly less able to repair their damaged cells or even spread as quickly.
It is also noteworthy that none of the subjects given the nutraceutical experienced any side effects. This suggests that this simple treatment could deliver these remarkable results without posing any risks to the patients, in contrast to existing treatments like chemotherapy that often trigger debilitating side effects.
While the study involved a small number of participants, Prof. Mittra is convinced that the remarkable results they found could be replicated in a study having a larger sample size. This study provides proof of concept that a paradigm shift in the way cancer treatment is approached is warranted.
As this possible new approach is studied further, companies like CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are also making progress in developing new therapies against brain cancer that could be more effective than existing alternatives.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CNSP
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the BioMedWire website applicable to all content provided by BMW, wherever published or re-published: http://BMW.fm/Disclaimer
