Can scorpion venom sting brain cancer?

Scientists have received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use 'Tumour Paint', a product derived from scorpion venom for study in human trials in the US, in an effort to treat

Editorial Team | Published: October 1, 2014 7:12 pm

Scientists have received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use ‘Tumour Paint’, a product derived from scorpion venom for study in human trials in the US, in an effort to treat people suffering from brain cancer. During the phase one trial, ‘Tumour Paint’ will be used on an estimated 21 people with a glioma, or tumour in the brain or spine, ABCNews.com reported.

The product was developed by US-based Blaze Bioscience, a company dedicated to developing products that assist physicians in their quest to improve the lives of cancer patients. ‘Tumour Paint’ is designed to ‘provide real-time, high-resolution intra-operative visualisation of cancer cells, enabling better detection and more complete and precise surgical removal of cancer’.

It is created by utilising a protein derived from the paralysing venom of an Israeli death-stalker scorpion.
The re-engineered protein, which binds to cancer cells, is then joined with a fluorescent molecule ‘flashlight’ that has been used safely in human surgeries for decades. ‘It is really hard to get molecules into the brain due to the blood-brain barrier,’ Jim Olsen, a brain cancer specialist at the Seattle Children’s Hospital who developed the product, was quoted as saying. ‘Most drugs that are made by the drug companies cannot penetrate that barrier. The scorpion has found a way to get these proteins in the brain,’ Olsen concluded.

What is brain cancer?

Brain cancer is relatively a rare type of cancer, but once initiated, can turn out to be fatal. It can arise in any part of the brain or may even spread from other nearby areas to the brain (metastasis). The exact cause for brain cancer is still not identified but some genetic and environmental factors supposedly initiate the disease. Experts have identified that presence of certain impaired genes of diseases like Li-Fraumeni syndrome, neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis and Turcot’s syndrome, may also be a contributing risk factor for the onset of brain cancer. A few general symptoms of brain cancer include headache, walking disability, seizures, hazy vision, memory loss and speech problems. CT scan and MRI help to diagnose the existence of brain tumor. Treatment often depends on the patients’ condition. However chemotherapy, targeted drug therapy or even radiation therapy are usually the line of choice for the physicians.

With inputs from IANS

Photo source: Getty images

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Published: October 1, 2014 7:12 pm

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