Doctors say it reduces recurrence rates by a wide margin

Jan 9, 2012 13:17 GMT  ·  By

Though armies, in general, are not well known for their ability to bring life, the US Army proves that things can be a bit different, if only for a little while. Experts working for the Army announce the development of a new, anti-cancer drug, which promises to be very effective against multiple tumors.

The drug was named E-75, and the team that developed it is based at the San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC), in Texas. The chemical was primarily developed to cut down the recurrence rates of breast cancer, but its developers say that it has other uses as well.

For example, the research group determined that colon, prostate and lung cancer rates were significantly lower among those who took the medicine than in control subjects. This suggests a positive, protective effect from E-75 as well.

The way this drug works is relatively straightforward, the team explains. E-75 was developed to train the body's own immune system to search for, identify and recognize a type of protein that is present on the surface of multiple types of cancer cells.

Not all tumors are made up of cells that secrete such molecules, and this is why the new drug is not effective against all existing forms of cancer. But, even so, future pills and therapies based on these discoveries have the potential to improve the quality of life of millions around the world.

One of the main reasons why the immune system does not attack cancer cells is that the latter manage to deceive our small guardians that they are parts of the body. However, when the immune system becomes aware of the deception, it attacks ferociously, until there is no cancer left.

Scientists say that getting the immune system activated in the fight against cancer has been one of the primary avenues of study over the past couple of decades. Now, it would appear that the SAMMC team managed to clear at least a bit of the mystery.

“The problem is most cancer vaccines have been tested on late-stage or end-stage cancer patients. That kind of intuitively doesn’t make sense. You don’t get your flu shot when you’ve already got the flu,” Colonel George Peoples explained to The Daily.

The research team only administered the drug to women who were at risk of developing breast cancer, as indicated by genetic tests and other medical assessment techniques. Peoples says that the team took this approach because, otherwise, it would have been like administering a flu shot after the fly infects someone.

E-75 worked for 60 percent of patients in a test group. The breast cancer recurrence rate was 20 percent in a control group, and only 10 percent in the E-75 group.