COLUMBIA, Mo.
Nano-sized particles of gold delivered by a common tea compound reduced cancerous prostate tumors by 80 percent according to researchers at the University of Missouri.
Researcher Ravi Shuklaa irradiated the gold which when bonded with EGCG penetrated the prostate gland just long enough to deliver a tumor-killing dose and then dispersed, minimizing the side effects common in chemotherapy.
In mice implanted with human prostate cancer cells, about 72 percent of the cancer-killing nano-particles lingered for 24 hours resulting in an 80 percent reduction of tumor volumes within 28 days, according to researchers whose work appeared in the July 16 Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Delivering radioactive “seeds” to damaged organs is effective but chemotherapy seeds generally linger too long, causing extensive damage to the organ’s non-cancerous cells. They also pass to other healthy organs of the body causing harm. The gold combined with Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) required only one injection, instead of hundreds and the particles, thanks to the prostate gland affinity for EGCG, remained closer to the tumor sites.
“They are found in all teas - green tea, black tea, etc. These chemicals have an affinity to the chemicals that are in the prostate cancer cells. So they take these nanoparticles and keep them within the tumor for as long as it takes to eliminate the tumor,” according to Cathy Cutler, research professor at the MU Research Reactor and co-author of the study.
Radioactive gold delivers a strong dose for 2.7 days and then diminishes by half so researchers were able to use less to minimize toxic side effects.
"Most of the time, prostate cancers are slow-growing; the disease remains localized and it is easily managed but Cutler writes that "current therapy for this disease is not effective in those patients who have aggressive prostate cancer tumors."
“Aggressive forms of the disease spread to other parts of the body, and it is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in U.S. men. However, we believe the gold nano-particles could shrink the tumors, both those that are slow-growing and aggressive, or eliminate them completely," Cutler said in a press release.
Kattesh Katti, curators' professor of radiology and physics in the School of Medicine and the College of Arts and Science and senior research scientist at the MU Research Reactor
Katti told Fox News “this is a very simple approach. The chemical we use has already been through the human food chain for thousands of years. Most populations in the world consume tea. It will make patients and non patients alike very comfortable."
She said she hoped human trails could begin within the next five years.
One in seven men is diagnosed with prostate cancer over the course of their lives.
Sources: CBS News, Fox News, NAS