Arsenic: a novel cancer remedy?The deadly poison arsenic may prove a remedy for one type of cancer. Raymond P. Warrell Jr. of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. The main campus is located at 1275 York Avenue, between 67th and 68th Streets, with other locations in New in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and his colleagues have given a low-dose arsenic treatment to 10 people suffering from a white blood cell cancer known as acute myelogenous leukemia acute myelogenous leukemia n. Abbr. AML Myelogenous leukemia characterized by rapid abnormal increase in the number of myeloblasts and progression of symptoms. . That experimental treatment spurred a complete remission complete remission Complete response Oncology Disappearance of all signs and symptoms of disease–eg, cancer, multiple sclerosis, with normalization of all biochemical and radiologic parameters, as well as a negative repeat biopsy–pathologic remission. the disappearance of all visible signs of cancer--in 8 of the 10 people in the pilot study, the researchers found. Arsenic didn't work for everyone, however. The condition of the two people who did not experience remission had initially improved with the therapy, but they suffered a relapse and subsequently died of cancer, says Warrell. The drug seems to act by telling cancerous cells to commit suicide, he says. The treatment provoked just mild side effects Side effects Effects of a proposed project on other parts of the firm. , such as light-headedness and aches. At least one patient in the study has been free of cancer for 5 months. Despite the encouraging results, Warrell says that no one knows whether that reprieve will last. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion