NEW DELHI: In a breakthrough in cancer treatment, Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) claimed that they have developed a Rs 100 tablet to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy and the chances of resurgence.
In a decade-long research study by Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), doctors found that dying cancer cells release cell-free chromatin particles after chemotherapy and radiotherapy that can turn healthy cells into cancerous ones.
According to the institute, the tablet will help reduce the side effects of treatments like chemotherapy by 50 percent and the possibility of cancer relapse by 30 percent.
As per the study, the pro-oxidant combination of resveratrol and copper helped in destroying chromatin and regulating toxicity in patients undergoing chemotherapy.
According to the doctors, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will decide on its approval. It is expected to be available in the market from June-July this year.
The institute said that although many patients are cured of cancer, this study uncovered a potential risk involved in current cancer treatment practices.
“While chemotherapy and radiotherapy may kill the primary tumour cells, they lead to the release of cfChPs from the dying cells, which can then enter healthy cells elsewhere in the body via the bloodstream and cause cancer there,” it said.
These findings have important implications for cancer treatment policies, the statement said.
Dr Pragya Shukla, the head of the department at the Delhi Cancer Institute, said “Cancer is caused by chronic inflammation and when the cancer cells die they further release compounds that increase inflammation causing a vicious cycle. So this molecule which is supposed to take care of these compounds might halt this vicious cycle and go a long way in cancer control.”
She further said that the benefits have to be validated in randomised controlled trials. “We cannot start using howsoever cheap it is.”
The study was conducted among mice.