Tumour. Tamed

scientists in California have developed an anti-cancer drug. Researcher Harinder Grewal of the Arizona Cancer Center in Tuscan, usa , said that the new drug has so far been effective in treating cancers of the mouth and throat. He believes that it will work against liver cancer and recurring breast tumour.

Anti-cancer drugs are usually injected into the bloodstream but have the disadvantage of affecting normal tissue as well. The new drug is a mixture of cisplatin and the blood constrictor, epinephrine in a gel of the consistency of honey. It is introduced directly into the tumour. While epinephrine restricts blood flow out of the tumour, the gel keeps the cisplatin concentrated on it. As the gel breaks down, cisplatin leaks out. The doses are too small to cause side effects.

Eighty two patients suffering from head and neck cancers, recurring breast tumour and other cancers were given weekly injections and by the third treatment, 32 patients had been cured. In nine other cases, the tumours had shrunk to half.