Hit the tumor on the FSH receptor?
The receptor of one of the human hormones is able to help in the detection and treatment of cancer, scientists believe, the results of which are published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Timely detection of cancer is extremely important for its successful treatment. For the early diagnosis of tumors in clinical practice, oncomarkers are used – specific molecules present in the blood of people with cancer and absent in healthy people.
An international team of scientists has found that the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) receptor can be used in the diagnosis and therapy of many types of cancers.
FSH is responsible for the work of the human reproductive system. Its receptor is usually located on the surface of cells stimulated by the hormone, but in very small quantities this molecule is located on the surface of the blood vessels of the genitals. The network of blood vessels is important for the nutrition of malignant tumors and their growth in the body. Moreover, cancer cells stimulate the growth of this network, so scientists decided to find out whether the follicle-stimulating hormone receptor is present in tumors.
Activation of the FSH receptor by means of complex signaling mechanisms stimulates the growth of blood vessels, therefore its blocking should worsen the blood supply to the tumor and stop its growth.
Molecular biologists studied tissue samples taken during biopsy from 1,336 people with cancer. The presence of the FSH receptor was tested for 11 different organs affected by tumors at different stages of growth.
As a result, it was found in all samples of cancerous tissues, regardless of the organ or stage of development of neoplasms. At the same time, this protein was completely absent in healthy tissues of the body.
In addition, it turned out that blood vessels with a follicle-stimulating hormone receptor on their surface penetrate the periphery of tumor tissues. It is also important that this molecule is located on the inner surface of the vessels – this is convenient from the point of view of delivering anti-cancer drugs.
When gold nanoparticle-labeled antibodies specific to the studied receptor were injected into animals with induced tumors, selective accumulation of these antibodies occurred in tumor vessels. This indicates the possibility of using the FSH receptor both for visualization of malignant neoplasms and as a marker of malignant growth, and also make it a promising candidate for "targets" for drugs that block the growth of blood vessels in tumors.
Further experiments should confirm the possibility of detecting the follicle-stimulating hormone receptor using clinical methods (magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography and ultrasound). Experts have already successfully conducted experiments on its visualization in mice.
Currently, about 20 cancer markers are used in medicine. The pioneers of the discovery of these molecules are Russian scientists Harry Abelev and Yuri Tatarinov, who in the early 60s of the twentieth century for the first time showed that the embryonic protein alpha-fetoprotein can be used as a diagnostic indicator of the development of liver cancer.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on open source materials
21.10.2010