Experimental drug may block radiation damage
One dose of the early-stage experimental drug protected mice and monkeys from lethal doses of radiation. Future experiments will be conducted to see if tissues in humans can, likewise, be protected during radiation treatments and as an antidote from nuclear attacks. Andrei V. Gudkov , who is chairperson of Cell Stress Biology within the Roswell Park Cancer Institute (Buffalo, New York, U.S.A.), was the lead researcher in the study. The drug of interest has been named CBLB502, a polypeptide drug derived from Salmonella flagellin. In the past and still today, radiation is a quite useful medical tool in combating diseases such as cancer by destroying cancerous cells. However, the radiation can also adversely affect healthy tissues, bone marrow, the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and other such areas of the human body. Because of the problems caused to normal cells, the amount and number of radiation treatments must be limited. If this drug proves to be effective at protecting such healthy ...