Question ID: WS-88
Submitted by: Raymond Petryshyn
April 11, 2011
Are antibiotics that inhibit protein synthesis in eukaryotes effective anticancer agents for the treatment of peritoneal cancers and other metastatic cancers? Background: A hallmark of most cancer cells is their ability to rapidly proliferate and spread. Antibiotics that are targeted to bacterial ribosome remain among the most effective arsenal to controlling the proliferation of pathologic bacteria. By analogy, it may be reasonable to expect that a class of antibiotics which has specificity for eukaryotic ribosome may be similarly effective in controlling or eradicating cancer cells. Feasibility: Historically, large numbers of naturally occurring agents have been screened for anti-bacterial properties to combat illness resulting from a spectrum of bacterial infections. In most instances, those agents that preferentially or exclusively targeted bacterial cells were selected for development as antibiotics while those that also targeted eukaryotic cells were set aside for fear of toxicity. However, there are many examples (puromycin, anisomycin, rapamycin, chloramphemicol, sporamycin) of set aside antibiotics that have specificity for the eukaryotic ribosome and exhibit anti-proliferative and antitumor effects. Such agents may be effective against metastatic cancers especially those invading the peritoneum where intra-peritoneal injection (IP) may be particularly effective. Implications for success: Set aside antibiotic agents that are known to inhibit protein synthesis in eukaryotic cells may prove to be as effective in controlling the proliferation of cancer cells as bacterial- specific antibiotics are in controlling bacterial infections. In many cases, the potential of these agents has not been tested or sufficiently tested especially on cancers of the peritoneum where minimal effects on the balance of the GI tract would be expected. These agents may represent effective options for difficult to treat metastatic cancers.
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