Nurse shark antibodies could treat breast cancer: New Herceptin to fight HER2 protein

UK researchers want to use nurse sharks in efforts to find a new “miracle medication” to treat breast cancer.

Researchers at Aberdeen University hope that shark antibodies lead to the formation of the “new Herceptin.” Herceptin is a powder that is used to prepare a solution which is administered as an infusion to fight breast cancer. Discovered over 25 years ago and considered the greatest medical breakthrough in treating breast cancer, Herceptin prevents cancer cells from the risk of developing and spreading.

One in 44,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the UK have the HER2 positive form of this type of disease, according to mirror.co.uk. HER2 (Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2) is also known as Neu, ErbB-2, CD340 (cluster of differentiation 340) or p185. However Herceptin does not work every time and sometimes provides only a brief relief, so a new treatment is necessary. “Herceptin is a miracle drug but some women are not responsive to its action and others resist it after a period of time,” said Dr. Helen Dooley, one of the researchers who conduct this study.

Men, sometimes, have constricted blood vessels due to formation of scar tissue, especially on https://www.supplementprofessors.com/levitra-5413.html cialis pills canada the upper side of the organ. With women viagra order as their tablets, they were in a position to get a usual conjugal life. To improve the effectiveness of these herbs, all these herbs are blended in right combination prescription order viagra without to cure low libido related problems in women. These drugs are also helpful in mountain areas, as they protect people from lung problems associated with high blood sugar typically purchase cialis online supplementprofessors.com come to feel holistic a sense sickness, losing weight as well as a feeling of restlessness in the leg, characterized by discrete numbness and a heavy feeling. Aberdeen University’s scientists believe that the strong immune system of the sharks could be the clue to this problem. They extracted the HER 2 protein, which is normally found on the surface of the tumors and known to increase their speeds, and injected it into a shark in order to trigger the production of antibodies. They waited a few months before taking blood samples from the tail of the sharks. Researchers hope now that the blood contains antibodies that, after inserted into HER2, stop cancer cells from growing and spreading.

A synthetic version of these antibodies could then be used as a cure medicine. Shark antibodies could be key to treating breast cancer because they are able to squeeze into very small spaces and access various parts of the HER2 protein, which other drugs can not reach.

The experiment was conducted on nurse sharks, a species of large fish, but docile. A special colony is kept in Baltimore, USA, and blood samples are sent to Dooley’s medical laboratory in Aberdeen.