A biotechnology firm creates a promising treatment

An experimental treatment developed by Genentech firm of US has obtained through genetic modification allowed a vegetable substance significantly reduce cancerous skin tumors developed, according to results of a clinical study.

This drug, GDC-0449, taken orally, blocks a protein called “hedgehog”, which plays an important role in the growth of cancer cells, according to this study released by the Internet version of the New England Journal of Medicine, a prestigious U.S. medical journal.

This treatment, developed by Genentech, a subsidiary of Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche, was obtained through genetic modification of cyclopamine, a substance extracted from the plant Veratrum californicum.

A clinical study funded by Genentech showed a tumor reduction or improvement of symptoms in 18 of the 33 patients with skin cancer following treatment, while 11 reported a stabilization of their condition for long periods. Only four patients continued growth of the tumor.

The treatment was also effective in a patient suffering from the most common type of brain cancer, medulloblastoma, whose tumor decreased significantly.

Image to link: Tu Noticiero Digital

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