KOCHI: A water-soluble nanocarbon compound developed by S V Eswaran and his team at Balman Eswaran Bio Medicine and Materials Science Pvt Ltd (BEMMS) in Chennai, in collaboration with ICMR-NARFBR, has shown promising anti-cancer activity in a preclinical study involving immunocompromised mice.
The study, conducted at the ICMR-National Institute for Pre-Clinical Research (NIPCR) examined three nanocarbon formulations developed by BEMMS at IIT Delhi’s Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) incubation facility. They include fullaraziraman, a fullerene-based material, and formulations based on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO).
According to Eswaran, who hails from Palakkad, the findings indicate the potential of the compound against breast cancer, including triple-negative breast cancer. “In the study, fullaraziraman showed up to 90% effectiveness in terms of tumour tissue destruction in individual animals. It was administered three times a week and no side effects were observed in the organs or other parts of the body of the animals,” he said.
Fullaraziraman and SWCNT-Mn (II) complexes were found to reduce the growth of tumours, while fullaraziraman caused extensive destruction of tumour tissue. In individual mice treated with fullaraziraman, 40-90% of the tumour tissue showed necrosis, indicating substantial tumour-cell death.
The SWCNT formulation produced about 40% necrosis in two of the three animals studied. The formulations were tested on mice implanted with a human breast cancer cell line commonly used for studying triple-negative breast cancer.
The researchers reported no treatment-related clinical symptoms or mortality, while the animals’ body weights remained generally stable during the study. The reduction in tumour growth was also reflected in the measurements recorded during the study.
In untreated mice, the average tumour volume increased from 54.86 cubic millimetres (mm³) on Day 35 to 486.53 mm³ on Day 68. In comparison, the volume in the fullaraziraman group increased from 54.54 mm³ to only 212.98 mm³, while the SWCNT group recorded an increase from 33.49 to 169.45 mm³. Eswaran said the next stage would involve producing the compound in sufficiently large quantities, refining its formulation and conducting more detailed toxicity studies in larger animals before considering human use.
“Three important steps have to be completed before we can think about using it in humans: producing the drug in large quantities, for which funding is required, finalising the formulation and carrying out detailed toxicity studies in bigger animals,” he said.
The researchers said they would need funding to scale up production and undertake the additional studies. Eswaran said the team hopes to develop sufficient quantities of the compound for potential human use within the next one to one-and-a-half years, subject to funding and successful completion of the required studies.
Besides cancer, the materials are being investigated for their potential use against neurodegenerative diseases and in advanced nanodevices. The latest study involved only three animals in each treatment group, and larger studies are required to establish the safety and effectiveness of the formulations. The researchers have also recommended further work on dosage, the mechanism through which the materials act on tumours, survival and metastasis.
An Indian patent was granted on January 31, 2023, for the studies. The management team at BEMMS included M P Balakrishanan, P Manoharan and Rajul Bhaskar.
90% effectiveness
The preclinical study by Palakkad native S V Easwaran and team, involving immuno-compromised mice, indicates the potential of the fullaraziraman against breast cancer, The compound showed up to 90% effectiveness in terms of tumour tissue destruction