Study: Super-molecule destroys prostate cancer cells

Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia have good news for prostate cancer patients: The discovery of a super-molecule that seeks and destroys prostate cancer cells. And this finding holds promise for men with both early and late stages of the disease.

The molecule--known as F77--attacks advanced tumors that have become resistant to treatment, according to an article published recently in the U.K.'s The Mail. In addition, tagging the molecule with a radioactive marker could enable doctors to track spreading prostate cancer, revealing precisely where in the body it is growing, according to Scotland's The Herald.

Tests carried out mice found that it wiped out 85 percent of one type of highly aggressive prostate cancer. Results were published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Many men with advanced prostate cancer, where the disease has spread beyond the prostate gland, are treated with hormone therapy, a treatment to which they can become resistant," says Dr. Sarah Cant, head of policy and campaigns at the Prostate Cancer Charity, as quoted in The Herald. "The study could possibly yield interesting developments, either as a new way of diagnosing prostate cancer, or as a new therapy that could be used to treat early and late stages of the disease."

- click here to read the study's abstract published in the PNAS
- check out the article in The Mail
- read The Herald's coverage 

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