Scientists at the Tata Institute in Mumbai have unveiled a new drug designed to prevent the recurrence of cancer. Allegedly, the researchers and medical professionals at the institute dedicated a decade to this endeavour and have finally introduced a tablet they assert will thwart the reappearance of cancer in patients.
The tablet is priced at ₹100 per piece.
We did a little experiment in which we took human breast cancer cells and implanted them in immunodeficient mice,” said Dr Indraneel Mittra, the onco-surgeon-turned-scientist who led the TMH doctors in the study. “Within six weeks, a small tumour was formed. We divided the mice into three categories according to the cancer treatment—chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery. We found that all the three treatments increased chromatin in the mouse brain.”
We found that a combination of resveratrol and copper helped in destroying chromatin. We used the combination to be given orally in our studies and found that it prevented metastasis,” said Dr Mittra, who added that while this was the outcome of the experiment on mice, the team would now do human trials, as per the HT report. Dr Mittra joined TMH in 1982 as the country’s first “surgeon scientist”.
Mittra further explained that after confirming the presence of chromatin particles following cancer treatment, the team’s focus shifted towards reducing treatment-related toxicity (side effects) in various human cancers, such as stomach, brain, oral, and blood cancers through clinical trials.