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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : May 24, 2014 4:32 PM IST
Using an accelerated drug screening process, researchers have discovered a previously unknown molecule that kills cancer cells.
The finding also brought to light that that new cancer drug candidates can be identified faster and at lower cost by using computer-assisted and cell-based screening of compounds, said Marko Kallio, a research scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
The researchers conducted a computer-assisted screening of 65,000 compounds and cell-based assays on the 150 highest scoring hit compounds, before identifying the Cent-1 molecule.
The Cent-1 molecule kills cancer cells through a mechanism similar to that of the template drug Rigosertib that is currently under commercial development.
However, since the chemical structure of the Cent-1 compound differs from Rigosertib, there are no major obstacles to further development.
The study appeared in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.
What is cancer?
Cancer is a group of over one hundred diseases characterized by abnormal, uncontrolled cell growth. In a healthy body cells grow, die and are replaced in a very controlled way. Damage or change in the genetic material of cells by environmental or internal factors result in cells that don't die and continue to multiply until a massive cancer or a tumour develops. Most cancer related deaths are due to metastasis, malignant cells that penetrate into the circulatory system and establish colonies in other parts of the body. Great advancements have been made but cancer is still leading cause of death for people under 85.
With inputs from IANS
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