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Guwahati, Feb 29: The Tata Institute in Mumbai, a premier cancer research and treatment facility in India, has reportedly made a groundbreaking discovery claiming to prevent the reoccurrence of cancer for the second time.
After ten years of efforts, the researchers and doctors at the institute developed a tablet that they claim to prevent the reoccurrence of cancer for the second time in patients and further reduce the side effects of treatment like radiation and chemotherapy by 50 per cent.
A senior cancer surgeon at Tata Memorial Hospital, who was part of the research group, Dr Rajendra Badve was quoted by NDTV saying, “Human cancer cells were inserted in rats for the research, which formed a tumour in them. The rats were then treated with radiation therapy, chemotherapy and surgery. It was found that when these cancer cells die, they break into tiny pieces called Chromatin particles. These particles can travel to other parts of the body through the bloodstream and when they enter healthy cells, they can turn them cancerous.”
The dying cells release cell-free chromatin particles (cfChPs, or fragments of chromosomes) turning healthy cells into cancerous ones while some of it may fuse with healthy chromosomes and cause new tumours, the Tata Memorial Centre in its research said.
“To find a solution to this problem, doctors gave pro-oxidant tablets with resveratrol and copper (R+Cu) to the rats,” the researcher said.
It is learned that the ‘R+Cu’ when taken orally, generates Oxygen radicals in the stomach which are quickly absorbed to enter the blood circulation and it destroys cfChPs released in circulation and prevents ‘Metastases’.
“Tata doctors were working on this tablet for almost a decade. The tablet is awaiting approval from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). TIFR scientists have applied to FSSAI to approve this tablet. After getting the approval, it will be available in the market from June-July. This tablet will help to a great extent in improving cancer treatment,” Dr Badve said.
“While the budget for the treatment ranges from lakhs to crores, this tablet will be available everywhere for just Rs. 100,” he said.
The doctor further informed that the effects on side-effects were tested on both rats and humans, however, the prevention test was done only on rats. “It will take about five years to complete the human trials for this. There were challenges during the research, many felt it was a waste of time and money. But today, everyone is happy and excited. It is a big success,” the researcher said.
