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Ecstacy! A Clinical
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4.8 (15 votes) |
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5 (2 votes) |
A modified form of Ecstasy (MDMA) may have enormous potential in the treatment of myeloma, lymphoma and leukemia, scientists from the University of Birmingham, England, wrote in the journalInvestigational New Drugs. The modified drug is 100 times more powerful as a cancer-busting compound than Ecstacy, which is already known to be effective against over half of white blood cell cancers. The researchers believe they may eventually be able to create drugs to treat human patients.
Scientists at the University of Birmingham had already discovered six years ago that over half of all white blood cancer cells responded to psychotropic drugs - the drugs suppressed their growth. Included in their laboratory experiments were weight-loss pills, antidepressants (including Prozac) and Ecstasy.
Six years ago, the scientists wrote that the main problem was dosage - using enough MDMA to effectively treat a malignant tumor would probably kill the patient. So, they set about finding a way of breaking down the drug's actions so that its cancer-killing properties could be isolated and separated from its other toxic ingredients.
They worked together with scientists from the University of Western Australia, who created the new compounds. The Birmingham researchers discovered that the altered forms of Ecstasy had considerably greater cancer busting properties - 100 times greater - than Ecstasy.
With excitement, the scientists added that they think they now understand the mechanism behind the modified compounds.
Lead author Professor John Gordon, from the University of Birmingham's School of Immunology and Infection, said:
"Together, we were looking at structures of compounds that were more effective. They started to look more lipophilic, that is, they were attracted to the lipids that make up cell walls. This would make them more 'soapy' so they would end up getting into the cancer cells more easily and possibly even start dissolving them.By knowing this we can theoretically make even more potent analogues of MDMA and eventually reach a point where we will have in our drug cabinet the most potent form we could."
Prof. Gordon added that for him and his team, this is an exciting step towards finding effective treatment for individuals who suffer from blood cancer, using a modified form of MDMA.
Prof. Gordon said:
"While we would not wish to give people false hope, the results of this research hold the potential for improvement in treatments in years to come."
The next step is to move onto the development of pre-clinical studies.
The national charity, Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, partly funded the research. Its Scientific Director, Dr. David Grant, said:
"The prospect of being able to target blood cancer with a drug derived from Ecstasy is a genuinely exciting proposition. Many types of lymphoma remain hard to treat and non-toxic drugs which are both effective and have few side effects are desperately needed. Further work is required but this research is a significant step forward in developing a potential new cancer drug."
Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
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Ecstacy - More info!
Here is another Ecstacy article. So many breakthroughs are happening. As Myelofibrosis is a rara and different type (I Have learned in applying for clinical trials) I am not sure these breakthroughs apply to MF but as it is a type of complicated leukemia, I have hope they will lead to accelerated discovery of treatments. See Below.
Aug 21, 2011 1:58 AM
Modified ecstasy 'attacks blood cancers' [what will we be talking about then?!]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14572284
Modified ecstasy 'attacks blood cancers'
18 August 2011 Last updated at 19:39 ET
By James Gallagher Health reporter, BBC News
Modified ecstasy could one day have a role to play in fighting some blood cancers, according to scientists.
Ecstasy is known to kill some cancer cells, but scientists have increased its effectiveness 100-fold, they said in Investigational New Drugs journal.
Their early study showed all leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma cells could be killed in a test tube, but any treatment would be a decade away.
A charity said the findings were a "significant step forward".
In 2006, a research team at the University of Birmingham showed that ecstasy and anti-depressants such as Prozac had the potential to stop cancers growing.
The problem was that it needed doses so high they would have been fatal if given to people.
The researchers, in collaboration with the University of Western Australia, have chemically re-engineered ecstasy by taking some atoms away and putting new ones in their place.
One variant increased cancer-fighting effectiveness 100-fold. It means that if 100g of un-modified ecstasy was needed to get the desired effect, only 1g of the modified ecstasy would be needed to have the same effect.
Scientists say this also reduced the toxic effect on the brain.
Lead researcher Professor John Gordon, from the University of Birmingham, told the BBC: "Against the cancers, particularly the leukaemia, the lymphoma and the myeloma, where we've tested these new compounds we can wipe out 100% of the cancer cells in some cases.
"We would really need to pinpoint which are the most sensitive cases, but it has the potential to wipe out all the cancer cells in those examples.
"This is in the test tube, it could be different in the patient, but for now it's quite exciting."
'Soapy' cells
It is believed that the drug is attracted to the fat in the membranes of the cancerous cells.
Researchers think it makes the cells "a bit more soapy", which can break down the membrane and kill the cell.
They said cancerous cells were more susceptible than normal, healthy ones.
However, doctors are not going to start prescribing modified ecstasy to cancer patients in the near future.
The research has been demonstrated only in samples in a test tube. Animals studies and clinical trials would be needed before prescribing a drug could be considered.
First, however, chemists in the UK and Australia are going to try to tweak the modified ecstasy even further as they think it can be made even more potent.
'Genuinely exciting'
If everything is successful, a drug is still at least a decade away.
Dr David Grant, scientific director of the charity Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, said: "The prospect of being able to target blood cancer with a drug derived from ecstasy is a genuinely exciting proposition.
"Many types of lymphoma remain hard to treat and non-toxic drugs which are both effective and have few side effects are desperately needed.
"Further work is required but this research is a significant step forward in developing a potential new cancer drug."