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| Science & Technology |
| Cancer and anti-Radiation Discovery |
| 2009-10-23 |
| Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, may be hot on the heels of a Holy Grail of cancer therapy: They have found a way to not only protect healthy tissue from the toxic effects of radiation treatment, but also increase tumor death. More than half of all cancer patients are treated at least in part with radiation, but the same radiation that kills cancer cells can also destroy healthy ones, causing side effects such as nausea and vomiting, skin sores and rashes, and weakness and fatigue. Long-term radiation exposure can lead to the scarring and death of normal tissue. They found that blocking a molecule called thrombospondin-1 from binding to its cell surface receptor, called CD47, affords normal tissues nearly complete protection from both standard and very high doses of radiation. "This dramatic protective effect occurred in skin, muscle and bone marrow cells, which is very encouraging. Cells that might have died of radiation exposure remained viable and functional when pre-treated with agents that interfere with the thrombospondin-1/CD47 pathway." "Dr. Isenberg and his team are examining multiple disease treatment strategies for pulmonary hypertension, wound healing, sickle cell disease and heart attacks, based on the blockade of the thrombospondin-1/CD47 pathway," he said. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #2 Even possible military operations in a nuclear environment. And used in conjunction with long term space operations and nuclear engines and power sources. Emergency services in nuc mishap, the list goes on. |
| Posted by: tipover 2009-10-23 18:25 |
| #1 I wonder if there is application for this with cleanup operations at power plants and weapons facitities to protect workers. |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2009-10-23 15:43 |