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KSU, Summa part of study that suggests they can help fight diseases like cancer
By Tracy Wheeler
Beacon Journal medical writer
Published on Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007
When most of us think of liquid crystal technology, we think of digital watches, laptop computers, or flat screen TVs.
But researchers at Summa Health System, Kent State University and California-based biotechnology company IC-MedTech are harnessing the natural abilities of liquid crystals for a much more important use: fighting disease, including cancer.
Not quite a liquid, not really a solid, liquid crystals are found throughout nature in proteins, in cell membranes, in DNA and, now, in drugs.
In recent clinical trials, the results appear to be promising.
Of 17 prostate cancer patients using a ''liquid crystal pharmaceutical'' (LCP) named Apatone along with standard chemotherapy or radiation, 16 saw their PSA (prostate specific antigen) level drop, signaling a slowing of tumor growth. The results were so overwhelming, said Summa researcher James Jamison, that the trial was ended early.
''These were end-stage cancer patients,'' he said. ''They had failed hormonal therapy. Their PSAs were increasing exponentially. Many of them were sent home to die.''
At best, Jamison said, researchers were hoping that Apatone would cause the PSAs to increase less rapidly, or maybe even level off. Instead, they saw PSAs drop.
''What that would suggest,'' he said, ''is a reversing of disease state. We can't prove that unequivocally, but it's really exciting.''
In this trial, carried out at Summa and William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., Apatone was given orally. The next step is to undertake a clinical trial that would deliver the drug intravenously, which Jamison believes will have even better anti-tumor results.
What are LCPs?
Though LCPs rely on liquid crystal research, don't confuse them with LCDs in electronics.
Liquid crystal drugs are not tiny mechanical devices floating around the body, like an updated version of the sci-fi classic Fantastic Voyage. Rather, they are compounds that rely on the unique properties of liquid crystals to spur specific cellular reactions.
In the case of Apatone, its main ingredients vitamins C and K3 are naturally occurring liquid crystals. They work together as a tag team, delivering a series of body blows to the tumor, weakening it for the knockout punch from chemotherapy or radiation.
They do this through a process known as oxidative stress, with K3 adding oxygen to the tumor and vitamin C pulling the oxygen out. That constant in-and-out weakens the tumor, making the chemotherapy or radiation more potent.
''Basically, that's the reaction that's important in all of this,'' Jamison said. ''Tumor cells have substances that protect themselves against oxidative stress. If you cycle in C and K3, it draws down the protection of these cells against chemotherapy.''
And that is the real strength of Apatone, said Chun-che Tsai, a chemistry professor at KSU who has been researching LCPs with Jamison for nearly 20 years. It won't replace radiation or chemotherapy, but it helps to focus the attack on cancerous cells, leaving healthy cells alone.
Precise attack
Chemotherapy works by targeting the body's fastest growing cells an approach that kills cancer cells but produces collateral damage and kills healthy cells, too. It's the death of healthy cells that leads to chemotherapy side effects, such as nausea and hair loss.
Adding Apatone to the mix, though, allows for a more precise attack on the cancer by focusing on inflammation in and around tumor cells, rather than how fast the cells are dividing. That would lead to fewer healthy cells being killed off and fewer side effects.
Apatone itself was shown to have just one side effect in the clinical trial, Jamison said, which was heartburn caused by acid reflux.
Tasi said the trial showed the Apatone is both safe and effective. ''This is Mother Nature's way, a much safer way,'' said Tsai, who is developing another LCP, Tolecine, to fight herpes and cancer.
More clinical trials are needed before Apatone hits the market. And Jamison warns that people should not rush to buy vitamin C or search the Internet for vitamin K usually sold as an additive to chicken feed. If a person chose the wrong kind of vitamin K, Jamison said, it could lead to a life-threatening toxic buildup in fatty tissues.
The results of the recent clinical trial should give prominence to the idea that vitamins can help fight cancer, said IC-MedTech Chief Executive Tom Miller.
''The supplement market oversold (vitamins) and doctors became jaded,'' Miller said. ''They said, 'This is nonsense and unless it's supported by a good double-blind, third-party reviewed study, I'm not going to believe it.' ''
Jamison has seen that firsthand. When he set up informational displays at medical conferences showing the effects of vitamins C and K3 on cancer treatment, he got little response.
But when he set up posters about the effects of Apatone on cancer treatment, he would hear, ''Wow. How come that isn't on the market yet?''
Tracy Wheeler can be reached at 330-996-3721 or tawheeler@thebeaconjournal.com.
When most of us think of liquid crystal technology, we think of digital watches, laptop computers, or flat screen TVs.
Get the full article here.
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