Moscow - Saba:
Russian scientists from Nizhny Novgorod State University have developed a new drug to combat skin cancer called "Vadentanib", which increases the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy by tenfold.
Tests conducted on mice and human cancer cells confirmed the effectiveness of the drug in treating squamous cell skin cancer, as it showed promising results in destroying cancer cells more efficiently compared to traditional treatments.
"In traditional photodynamic therapy, photosensitizers are activated by light to produce oxidizing molecules that attack cancer cells, but this is not always enough to completely eliminate the tumor. Our new innovation combines the effect of a chlorophyll-based photosensitizer and the precision of the targeted drug, which enhanced the effectiveness of treatment by tenfold," said Lubov Krylova, a researcher at the University's Department of Biophysics.
For his part, Assistant Professor in the Department of Organic Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry at the University Vasily Bravagin explained that the new drug is characterized by its ability to retain active substances inside the tumor until their effect ends, while the indium metal added to the photosensitizer doubles the production of oxidants, which accelerates the process of cancer cell death.
The researchers indicated that the two parts of the molecular compound in "Vadentanib" complement each other in combating tumors; the drug delivers the treatment directly to the tumor and prevents the activity of cancer cells, while the photosensitizer produces oxidizing agents that contribute to eliminating cancer.
According to the results reached by university scientists, the new drug is characterized by its safety and effectiveness in aqueous solutions, which makes it suitable for use by intravenous injection.
It is worth noting that skin cancer is an abnormal growth of skin cells, and is often caused by excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays, but it may appear in other areas of the body that are not usually exposed to sunlight.
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