Anti-malarial treats cancer

"Can a drug that has been used to treat malaria for years possibly be used to treat breast cancer before it becomes invasive? That's what researchers at George Mason University's Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM) and Inova Breast Care Institute (IBCI) are trying to prove." We already know that artemisinin may target and kill cancer cells in breast-cancer patients, but now it appears that chloroquine, a drug commonly administered to treat malaria, may also treat cancer.

In a three-year clinical trial, researchers "will test the effectiveness of the anti-malarial drug chloroquine in treating 90 women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a type of breast cancer in which the cancer cells start in the milk ducts but have not yet become invasive and spread in the breast. Once the cancer cells start to spread in the breast and throughout the body, the condition is considered invasive and can often be fatal."

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women (American Cancer Society). In 2009, 254,650 patients were diagnosed. This treatment will "prevent breast cancer cells from becoming deadly by killing pre-invasive cancer cells". A novel therapy that uses chloroquine, which has been used to treat malaria in the past, may prevent deaths from breast cancer in the near future.

Source:
George Mason University (2010, March 2). Trial launched to test new treatment for pre-invasive breast cancer. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 3, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com¬ /releases/2010/03/100302123120.htm

Herbal medicine

"An ancient Chinese folk medicine that's effective against malaria also might be a potent cancer-fighting candidate, scientists at the University of Washington say" (Hill). "A derivative of the sweet wormwood plant used since ancient times to fight malaria and shown to precisely target and kill cancer cells may someday aid in stopping breast cancer before it gets a toehold" (Harril). "Artemisia annua...has shown favorable...results" against "breast cancer and prostate cancer" (Artemisinin).

"The substance, artemisinin, appeared to prevent the onset of breast cancer in rats that had been given a cancer-causing agent." Artemisinin is "selectively toxic to cancer cells" (Harril). "The compound appears to be extremely" harmful "to cancer cells but had little impact on normal cells," according to the researchers (Hill).

"The properties that make artemisinin an effective antimalarial agent also appear responsible for its anti-cancer clout. When artemisinin comes into contact with iron, a chemical reaction ensues that spawns free radicals -- highly reactive chemicals that, when formed inside a cell, attack the cell membrane and other structures, killing the cell...The malaria parasite can't eliminate iron in the blood cells it eats, and stores it. Artemisinin makes that stored iron toxic to the parasite...The same appears to be true for cancer. Because they multiply so rapidly, most cancer cells have a high rate of iron uptake. Their surfaces have large numbers of receptors, which transport iron into the cells. That appears to allow the artemisinin to selectively target and kill the cancer cells, based on their higher iron content" (Harril). "In addition," artemisinin has already "been shown to be safe" in humans, as is evident in malaria patients who have taken the drug (Hill). Artemisnin may provide an alternative for harsh chemotherapy in some cancer cases.


Sources:
“Artemisinin Herbal Extract Cures Malaria, Breast Cancer and Leukemia”. Associated Content. 29 March 2009.

Harril, Rob. “Malaria drug may help prevent breast cancer, study shows”. University Week. Jan. 12, 2006

Hill, Richard. The Oregonian, 28 Nov 2001 p C12.

Koresby Online. Artemisinin Annua. (Photo)