Vitamine
bij bestrijding borstkanker.*
De provitamine E, alpha-tocopheryl succinaat, lijkt effectief te zijn in het bestrijden van de tumor bij borstkanker blijkt uit een Australische studie. Het meest effectief is wel een verbinding van deze provitamine met een speciaal peptide.
Uit eerder onderzoek bleek al dat deze vitamine effectief te zijn bij darmkanker en mesothelioom, deze vitamine bevorderde de celdood van kankercellen.
In deze studie kregen muizen, met HER2 borstkanker drie weken lang een supplement van deze vitamine. Borstkankercellen met veel HER2 zijn veel minder gevoelig voor bestaande therapieën. Na afloop bleek zowel de gewone als de speciale provitamine de tumorgrootte flink gereduceerd te hebben, de speciale provitamine bereikte zelfs een vermindering van 50%.
Pro-vitamin E Shown To Be Active Against Breast Cancer Cells
A
precursor of vitamin E has been shown to be effective against breast cancer cell
lines which over-express human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2).
About 30% of breast cancers exhibit high levels of HER2 - a feature that appears
to make the disease resistant to many common treatments including
chemotherapeutic agents.
Now researchers in Griffith University's School of Medical Science have shown
that pro-vitamin E or alpha-tocopheryl succinate can reduce tumour volume in
experimental animals with high levels of HER2.
Chief investigator Associate Professor Jiri Neuzil said alpha-tocopheryl
succinate (alpha-TOS) had the potential to be an inexpensive, safe and selective
therapy for hard-to-treat breast cancers.
"Alpha-TOS has already shown promise as a potent anticancer agent in
diseases such as colon cancer and mesothelioma. It induces controlled cell death
or apoptosis in tumour cells."
Transgenic mice with high HER2 breast cancers were treated over a three week
period and tumour size was monitored every three days by ultrasound imaging.
The high resolution ultrasound allows for more accurate measurement of tumour
volume than any other non-invasive technique.
The research team found that while alpha-TOS is effective alone, it can be
delivered into the tumour cells more efficiently when given in a conjugate form
with a targeting peptide.
"Tumour volume reduced more than 50% when animals were treated with the
conjugate alpha-TOS," Associate Professor Neuzil said.
He said one of the benefits of alpha-TOS as a potential anti-cancer drug was
that it was metabolised in the liver to vitamin E and unlikely to cause
dangerous side effects.
Associate Professor Neuzil is presenting his results at the Gold Coast Health
and Medical Research Conference. The conference, an initiative of the Griffith
Institute of Health and Medical Research, was held in December 2006, at the
Radisson Palm Meadows Resort, Gold Coast.
### (Jan. 2007)