The Cancer Stopper
Dateline: 04/02/98
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found a potentially potent weapon in the fight against cancer. A sugar phosphate, called inositol hexaphosphate (IP6), was found to be effective against certain types of liver cancer in mice.
IP6 is a sugar molecule with six phosphates attached. It occurs naturally in nature in such diverse things as wheat, rice bran, legumes and even in nearly all mammal cells. It helps to regulate cellular functions, particularly cell differentiation and proliferation.
Scientists took human liver cells that were cancerous, treated them with various levels of IP6, and transplanted the treated cells into mice. IP6 was found to "check" the growth of the cancerous cells--not by destroying the cancer cells but by making the cancerous cells act like normal, healthy cells. Inositol hexaphosphate decreases the proliferation of the cancer cells, keeping them in "check."
The higher the dose of IP6, the better the results. In the tests, mice that had transplanted cells with higher dosages of IP6 developed virtually no cancer. Those that had untreated cells developed the tumors we would expect from diseased cells.
Some of the mice with tumors present were then tested as a follow-up. Injections of IP6 were given to the mice with tumors and, over the course of the treatment, the tumors decreased in size, sometimes almost five fold less than the size of the tumor at the start of the treatment.
Interestingly enough, IP6 binds with several important minerals, like copper and zinc. Scientists suggested that taking the "pure" form of the substance rather than ingesting large quantities in the diet might prove more beneficial in fighting cancer.
Scientists also hope that IP6 could be used in the treatment of other diseases and disorders, particularly in the fight against AIDS.
Will IP6 prove to be a potent new weapon against cancer in the future, or is this another in the long line of substances that haven't lived up to their potential? Come over to the Biology Forum and share your thoughts, opinions, and feelings.
For additional information see:
- Natural Sugar-Phosphate Compound Shows Promise as Cancer Treatment
News release concerning the study from Science Daily. - The Cancer Stopper II
- The Cancer Stopper III Two promising new anticancer drugs were recently introduced.
