Fruit research yields way to curb cancer
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-07-03 16:22 Scientists at an Israeli
university have found a promising new way to stop the growth and spread of
cancer cells while carrying out research to boost the size of peaches and
nectarines, the university said on Sunday.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem scientists found that a protein similar to
one researched in their project had the effect of blocking blood supply to
tumors.
"By blocking the blood supply to the tumors, actibind halted the ability of
malignant cells to move through the blood stream," the university said.
"Their approach has been shown to inhibit the malignant cells without
affecting normal cells and without the severe side effects of traditional
treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy," it said.
Oded Shoseyov, who led the research, told Reuters his team had succeeded in
using the protein to reduce the number of fruits on a tree, thereby increasing
the size of each fruit. The technique worked by inhibiting the growth of pollen
cells.
"We hypothesized that since the mechanism of growth is very similar - between
the pollen cell and the cancer cell - that the protein would have the same
effect," he said.
Shoseyov's team had used genetic engineering to produce a variant of the
protein "that showed an impressive anti-cancer potential," the university said.
"These results have raised broad interest in international scientific
meetings and in business circles," it said.
|
