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Using Enzymes To Counter Cancer Growth 41

sylvester22 writes to mention a Mercury News article about a possible breakthrough in cancer research from a research group in Oakland. Dr. Julie Saba and her team at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute are working with 'lyase,' an intestinal enzyme that apparently can inhibit cancer growth. The problem is that this enzyme is almost never found after a growth has become active. From the article: "Using cells in a tissue culture Saba said she and her team 'have been able to turn-on the enzyme after cancer cell growth had occurred.' The researchers found that re-introducing the enzyme made chemotherapy more effective in tissue cultures. 'Although we're beginning our studies in colon cancer, we believe our research findings will have a direct impact on investigations for other cancers, including pediatric cancers,' said Saba."
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Using Enzymes To Counter Cancer Growth

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  • by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Friday November 24, 2006 @08:28AM (#16973102)
    It's nice that this works fine in the lab, but the problem is that cancer is not some disease, where you suffer from externally applied poisons (like the waste products of bacteria or fungi that infected you). And while it shares some similarities with a viral infection (your cells going bonkers), you can't attack the virus for there is none. You are actually attacking the body's own cells.

    Unfortunately, pretty much everything that affects cancer cells also affect the rest of the body. Simply because they ARE in fact body cells. Body cells gone banana, but still cells of the body.

    So it's nice that we found (yet again, I have to add) something that affects cancer cells, the key question with all cancer research is, though, how does it affect the body surrounding them?

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