Medical Marketing International Group (MMIG) announced yesterday (4th March) that its tests on ruthenium-based chemotherapies have shown that they could be used for some new cancer targets.

Scientists have discovered that the metal can be used as a catalyst to a reaction which stops cells from developing the anti-oxidant chemical glutathione, thus facilitating the death of cancerous tissue.

MMIG has been conducting a number of pre-clinical studies on ruthenium compound ONCO 4417 in order to gain a greater understanding of how it tackles cancerous cells.

"These studies show that ONCO 4417 induces DNA damage to levels comparable with that of cisplatin and suggest that the induced DNA damage may directly or indirectly result in apoptosis (programmed cell death)," the group noted.

Furthermore, the tests showed that the compound does not share cross-resistance mechanisms with cisplatin and therefore the damage it induces is not resolved in the same way.

The conclusion of the work - which will receive a poster presentation at the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting in Denver next month - is that ONCO 4417 may have further advantages in treating the disease.

As a result, the group confirmed that it will now assess the compound in xenograft models and combine it with other drug agents to determine the full extent of its potential.

"We also continue to evaluate the second generation compounds, prepared using a targeted synthesis approach, which have now demonstrated good in vitro efficacy across our panel of human tumour cells," the company also revealed.

MMIG is a life sciences company which pinpoints, acquires and develops various compounds and technologies designed to treat cancer.



Source:

Development update (04/03/09)
http://www.oncosense.com/mmi/companynewsstory.jsp?n=3&s=6&ref=137