From the soil grows new weapon to fight cancer

Clostridia

A MODIFIED strain of bacteria found widely in soil could soon be used to target and kill cancerous tumour cells – leaving healthy tissue unscathed. The therapy is expected to be tested in cancer patients in two years' time and may lead to a simple but safe procedure for curing solid tumours. The research has been partly carried out at the University of Nottingham, led by Nigel Minton, Professor of Applied Molecular Microbiology in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Professor Minton said: "This therapy will kill all types of tumour cell. The treatment is superior to a surgical procedure, especially for patients at high risk or with difficult tumour locations."If the approach is successfully combined with more traditional approaches, this could increase our chance of winning the battle against cancerous tumours."

The therapy uses a modified form of Clostridium sporogenes, a bacterium which is in the Clostridia group of bacteria. This ancient group of bacteria evolved on the planet before it had an oxygen-rich atmosphere, and they thrive in low oxygen conditions. When Clostridia spores are injected into a cancer patient, they grow in the tumours, because the tumours are oxygen-depleted environments.

Professor Minton said: "This is a totally natural phenomenon which requires no fundamental alterations and is exquisitely specific. We can exploit this specificity to kill tumour cells but leave healthy tissue unscathed."
When the bacterium reproduces in the tumour, it also produces an enzyme. An anti-cancer drug is injected separately into the patient and reacts with the enzyme, destroying only the cells in its vicinity – the tumour cells. Nottingham researchers, together with those from the University of Maastricht, in The Netherlands, have modified the bacterium by introducing a gene into its DNA. This results in a much-improved version of the enzyme, which can be produced in greater quantities in the tumour than previous versions, and is more efficient at converting the pro-drug into its active form.

The research is being presented at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn Conference at the University of York, which starts today. Professor Minton anticipates the strain will be used in a clinical trial in 2013, led by Jan Theys and Philippe Lambin at the University of Maastricht. (Nottingham Post)

Soil bacteria helps kill cancers

A bacterium found in soil is a showing promise as a way of delivering cancer drugs into tumours. Spores of the Clostridium sporogenes bacterium can grow within tumours because there is no oxygen. UK and Dutch scientists have been able to genetically engineer an enzyme into the bacteria to activate a cancer drug. Experts said it would be some time before the potential benefits of the work - presented to the Society of Microbiology - were known.
The work is being presented to the society's autumn conference at the University of York.
The spores grow only within solid tumours, such as breast, brain and prostate tumours and not in other tissue in the body, where oxygen is present. Researchers have been investigating the possibilities of clostridium "vectors" to deliver cancer drugs for decades.
The scientists from the University of Nottingham and Maastricht University were able to genetically engineer an improved version of an enzyme into C.sporogenes. In animal tests, a drug was also injected into the bloodstream which becomes active only when it is triggered by this enzyme. It then destroys only the cells in its vicinity - the tumour cells.
Professor Nigel Minton, who led the research, said: "Clostridia are an ancient group of bacteria that evolved on the planet before it had an oxygen-rich atmosphere and so they thrive in low oxygen conditions. When Clostridia spores are injected into a cancer patient, they will only grow in oxygen-depleted environments, ie the centre of solid tumours. This is a totally natural phenomenon, which requires no fundamental alterations and is exquisitely specific.We can exploit this specificity to kill tumour cells but leave healthy tissue unscathed."
The team are now planning to work with other researchers on patient trials, due to start in 2013. Nell Barrie, senior science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "Finding ways to target treatments to cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed is a key aim of researchers around the world. "But it's a difficult problem to solve, especially because every cancer is different. This particular approach hasn't yet been tested in patients so it will be some time before researchers know whether it will offer real benefits." (BBC)