Indian Researcher Finds A New Treatment To Cure Bone Cancer In Children

Dr. Swati Srivastava, an Indian researcher from ITT Roorkee, along with Prof. Yosef Yarden and many other colleagues from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, has managed to find how to cure bone cancer in children.

She has just completed her Doctoral degree at IIT Roorkee, and now, Srivastava is doing a postdoc at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

According to Cell Reports, this Indian researcher has detected interactions of molecular-level Ewing sarcoma and put forward a new treatment that can prevent this kind of cancer from spreading. Before that, she conducted her tests on mice and the results were optimistic.

As a kind of bone cancer in young adults and adolescents, Ewing sarcoma is often found in soft tissue and bone.

The researchers including Dr. Srivastava focused on researching the receptors for ‘glucocorticoids’, a class of steroid hormones. Their findings pointed out that there was a significant increase in the development of Ewing sarcoma via these receptors.

When the protein from oncogene in Ewing sarcoma and glucocorticoid receptors formed a physical connection, Ewing sarcoma cells would grow and migrate in a Petri dish. Also, the sarcoma in lab mice showed a powerful increase in growth and spread.

The researchers then implanted these cancer cells in lab mice and applied medical procedures to block the formation of glucocorticoids. The findings showed that thanks to this medication, the tumors gradually developing at a slower speed. In other words, the new treatment managed to limit the growth of cancer cells.

The researchers will soon conduct these tests on human patients. If they succeed, young patients with bone cancer will have a chance to be completely cured. The hypothesis is even exact for those who are suffering from the types of cancer metastasized beyond bone.

According to Dr. Srivastava, "Our findings provide the basis for a personalized approach to the treatment of Ewing sarcoma."