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Tom Quinn, associate
professor of biochemistry, is working to find a treatment
for melanoma cancer. Photo by Ginny Booker
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Leading
the Fight
Against Skin Cancer
By Christian Basi
Despite a vigorous immunological response
from the human body, melanoma cancer is extremely lethal. Once
a melanoma tumor becomes metastatic, the chances of survival
are extremely poor. Most patients do not live for more than
a year after diagnosis. For several years, researchers have
investigated methods to treat melanoma cancer. Now, for the
first time, biochemists at the University of Missouri-Columbia
have designed a radio-labeled drug that will bind to and enter
cancerous melanoma tissue without breaking down.
Tom Quinn, an associate professor of biochemistry
at MU, leads one of only two groups in the United States that
works with Bismuth-212, an alpha particle that emits a radioactive
isotope used to target specific cancerous tissue. After conducting
in-vitro studies, researchers in Quinn’s lab applied the
metal to the surface of mouse melanoma cells and found that
after binding to the cell’s receptors, the isotope entered
the cell without breaking down.
“Our effort was a rational design
approach because a lot was known about which peptides target
molecules present on melanoma cells,” said Quinn. “We
simply needed to find a sequence that the cells wouldn’t
destroy. The drug stays in the tumor probably because of the
unique combination of metal bond to the amino acids.”
Preliminary studies in melanoma-bearing
mice showed that the radiopharmaceutical was internalized by
tumor tissue without breaking down. The success of the project
precipitated collaboration between Quinn and AlphaMed, Inc.,
a pharmaceutical company that has received a $500,000 grant
from the National Cancer Institute
to develop a radiotherapeutic drug to treat metastatic melanoma.
AlphaMed and Quinn’s laboratory at MU will begin to test
the therapeutic properties of the bismuth-212 radiopharmaceutical
in melanoma animal therapy studies.
The bismuth radioisotope emits an alpha
particle, which Quinn and AlphaMed scientists believe will be
effective in destroying cancerous melanoma cells. Human clinical
trials could begin in two-to-five years, Quinn said.
Quinn said radio-labeled drug development
is important because it offers a new approach in the fight to
cure melanoma metastases. Also, because the drug selectively
targets the cancerous tissue, there is less toxicity to healthy
tissue. Quinn predicts that melanoma cancer could be effectively
treated in the future with a combination of chemotherapy and
targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy.
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Last Update:
November 15, 2007
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