KARACHI, Dec 24: Cancer-induced suffering is likely to be alleviated in the next 10 to 15 years and the ailment itself can be converted into a chronic disease by providing therapeutic interventions at different stages of the malignant process.
Prof Azra Raza, a senior medical researcher of Pakistani origin based in the USA for last several years, delivering the Khawaja Muin Ahmed Memorial Lecture at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) here on Wednesday, said that with new trends in cancer treatment the figures regarding cancer-induced mortality were likely to be much lower by the year 2015 because of the latest technologies, “GENOMICS” (genes) and Proteomics (proteins). The present global incidence of all cancers is 10 million and deaths due to cancers come to around six million.
The speaker, a professor of medicine and director of the Section of Myeloid Diseases and Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) at Rush University Medical Centre Chicago, presented her concept of “Seed and Soil”, where new trends in a cancer treatment would target cancer cells for direct elimination and render the micro-environment unfit for proliferation of cancer cells.
Her research has identified novel cancer specific peptides “Magic Bullets” which have been used for the treatment of acute myeloidleukemia and MDS in animal models.
Pharmacokinetics studies were under way now to prepare for human trials, she said, adding that peptides were not toxic to normal cells but bound themselves to leukemia cells and made them more sensitive to chemotherapy. “These peptides can therefore be used as “magic bullets” to deliver toxins directly to malignant cells.” She explained that MDS was a group of incurable, universally fatal blood diseases, predominantly encountered in elderly people. “The disease progresses to acute myeloid leukemia in one third cases,” she said adding that during the research, thalidomide was considered a potential treatment option and gave encouraging responses in one third of the patients.
According to her, two analogues of thalidomide, especially Revimid, had given excellent results. “Since MDS are a group of disorders, so no single drug is likely to be effective and the challenge is to find a drug that will benefit subsets of patients”.
Earlier, Prof Adibul Hasan Rizvi, director of SIUT, introduced Prof Azra Raza, a graduate of the Dow Medical College by enumerating her achievements in the field of blood cancer.
She started her work in the cellular dynamics of the bone marrows in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and MDS at the Rosewell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, and went on to establish a basic research program in the study of leukemia at Rush University, Chicago.
Dr Yasin Ali, a senior physician, read out the citation on Khawaja Muin Ahmed, founder principal of the Sindh Medical College who played a pivotal role for the benefit of young doctors.—APP
