Compound Shows Promise for Liver Cancer

A potential new drug to treat liver cancer has shown promise in animal tests, where it killed only cancer cells and displayed no toxicity effects. The results were reported in the July 15, 2002, issue of Cancer Research.

The compound, an energy blocker called 3-bromopyruvate, was tested in rabbits with experimental liver tumors. It was injected directly into the artery that fed the tumors, killing a lot of cancer cells but leaving healthy liver alone. This was in contrast to chemoembolization therapy, which can cause damage to normal tissues. The researchers, from Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD, USA), caution that before the compound can be tested on humans, scientists need to learn more about how normal cells protect themselves. Currently, most patients with liver cancer die within six months.

"3-bromopyruvate looks like a chemical found in our own body,” says Young Ko, Ph.D., an assistant professor of radiology at Johns Hopkins. "It shows a possible drug doesn't have to be fancy or expensive; this is just as simple and as good as can be.”

In another experiment, the researchers discovered that small tumors in the lungs, buds from the original tumor in the liver, were not affected by arterial delivery of the compound but were substantially reduced by intravenous injection.




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