An international researchers team has developed and tested a new chemical compound that reduced a type of breast cancer and almost completely eliminated metastases.
The Spanish Spanish Research Council (CSIC) of Spain revealed on Tuesday that a chemical compound tested in mice was able to reduce breast cancer.
The designated chemical compound MACTIDE-V He was able to reprogram the activity of macrophages and convert them to antitumor agents to attack the breast cancer, detailed the Spanish news agency Efe.
Os macrophages are white blood cells of the immune system that, under normal conditions, help eliminate pathogenic agents (which can cause disease), combat viruses and promote healing.
No Entanto, a activity of these cells is changed with a tumor and go to provoke the weakening of t lymphocytesimportant for the defense of the body.
Essential part of the immune system, T lymphocytes lose the ability to attack evil cells when immunosuppressed, allowing tumor expansion.
Experience with promising mice
The study was conducted ‘in vivo’ in female mice with triple-negative metastatic breast cancer, the most aggressive of the genre.
“We decided to study specifically the cancer of the triple negative breast, since there is currently no targeted treatment,” he explained Pablo Scodellerresearcher at the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC) and the main author of the study, quoted by EFE.
Those tumors are treated with conventional chemotherapy, which have side effects and does not stimulate the immune system.
The results of the study, last week in the Advanced Scienceshow that Mactide-V increased the proportion of antitumor macrophages, reducing the tumor and eliminating almost completely the metastasis produced.
“The compound was capable of accurately directing treatments For macrophages, through intravenous administration, without accumulating in the liver ”.
Scodeller pointed out that it is the possibility of using the compound “in oral treatments” compound.
The investigation team has already submitted a patent request for the compound, which will continue to be tested on other types of cancer.
The study, led by scientists at IQAC-CSic, was attended by researchers from the University of Tarti (Estonia), the Institute of Oncology of Veneto (Italy), the University of San Martín (Argentina), the National Center for Biotechnology ( CNB-CSIC) and the Biomedical Network Research Center (CIBER-BBN), from Spain.
