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March 31st, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda FRIDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) — Two drugs previously thought
to be too toxic for human cancer treatment may stop the growth of cancer
cells without killing healthy cells and damaging DNA when used in small
doses, researchers have found.
Unlike conventional chemotherapy drugs, which poison and kill any
rapidly dividing cells by damaging cellular machinery and DNA, these
drugs — azacitidine (AZA) and decitabine (DAC) — specifically target
cancer stem cells, which cause cancer to spread and are resistant to most
drugs.
“Low doses of AZA and DAC may reactivate genes that stop cancer growth
without causing immediate cell killing or DNA damage,” Dr. Stephen Baylin,
a professor of oncology and deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel
Cancer Center in Baltimore, said in a news release from Hopkins.
Although AZA and DAC were dismissed as too toxic for the treatment of
common cancers, the drugs have been effective in treating a small number
of patients with advanced lung cancer and myelodysplastic syndrome. Based
on those positive clinical outcomes, the Johns Hopkins researchers decided
to re-evaluate the drugs for use in cancer treatment.
Back in the lab, they treated leukemia, breast cancer, lung cancer and
colon cancer cell lines with low doses of AZA and DAC for three days. A
week later, the treated cells were transplanted into mice and observed for
up to 20 weeks.
The researchers found the anticancer effects of the drugs continued
long after treatment stopped.
After treatment with AZA and DAC, the cancer cells returned to a more
normal state and eventually died, Baylin said.
“Our findings match evidence from recent clinical trials suggesting
that the drugs shrink tumors more slowly over time as they repair altered
mechanisms in cells and genes return to normal function,” Baylin said.
The team noted, however, that more research is needed to determine
exactly how the drugs work.
Clinical trials already have begun among patients in advanced stages of
breast and lung cancer, the researchers said, and trials in colon cancer
patients also are planned.
The researchers noted previous research has shown the drugs could make
other anticancer treatments more effective. The drugs could become part of
a combined treatment approach for certain cancers, they said.
The findings, which were published recently in the journal Cancer
Cell, are expected to be presented Sunday at a Stand Up to Cancer
press event in Chicago.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute provides more information on cancer stem cells.
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