Groundbreaking Research On Speeding Up The Death Of Bone Cancer Cells Shows Promising Results In Malta
A researcher at the University of Malta has discovered some very promising results as they attempt to discover a more efficient and reliable way of treating bone cancer in humans.
Lovin Malta spoke to Amnah Khan, a 26-year-old student from Pakistan reading for her Masters in Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Malta and one of the key researchers in this project looking into the acceleration of the ageing of cancer cells in an attempt to get rid of them
Bone cancer, or osteosarcoma, usually affects children and young adults, as well as adults over the age of 60. It starts in the bone but may spread to other parts of the body – and with current treatments often having severe side effects, Khan believes a better treatment can be found.
The promising research is happening at the University of Malta
“This is a very painful cancer and causes several morbidities while also causing growing pains that don’t resolve themselves, even with rest,” she said. “And currently, bone cancer is very hard to treat.”
As it stands, there are two ways to treat bone cancer: chemotherapy and surgery, and both can be painful and draining.
“Chemotherapy and radiotherapy have many serious side effects and risk development in children,” Khan explained. “They cause secondary cancers as well as fertility issues later stages in life. So as the treatment treats the cancer cells, it harms the healthy cells too. It is a very aggressive treatment – and we believe there is a need for natural treatment that treats cancer and people will not suffer.”
Khan’s research looked into natural products found in plants and aimed to find a substance that will naturally age cancer cells, causing them to die.
Amnah Khan
“The function of these natural products is to mature the cancer cells that will eventually die – and the novel drug will target only the cancer cells,” she said.
Even better is the fact that these products have not been shown to harm any other healthy cell: “it really is quite amazing these novel chemicals control cancer by maturing the cells without harming healthy bone cells.
Before and after: the darker nodules in the second image show the ageing in bone cancer cells after treatment
Cancer cells can grow rapidly and may destroy normal bone tissue.
“And it is an alarming condition for young children who are still growing, so we aim to control the cell’s development,” she said.
So far, her test results have been positive, raising their hopes that they may be on the way to discovering a groundbreaking new approach to bone cancer.
“They’ve produced good results when it comes to the Leukaemia cell line and within Leukaemia patient samples,” she continued.
“We are the first to test these novel chemicals on bone cancer. I am proud to say no other country ever tested these novel chemicals on bone cancer before. This research is originally done in Malta.”
Khan, who is supported by the Endeavour Scholarship, hopes that, eventually, her new treatment may be used in combination with low doses of chemotherapy, causing less suffering in the patient. But for now, she’s just proud to be doing this work for Malta.
“I am highly obliged and grateful to my incredible professor Pierre Schembri Wismayer and Dr Analisse Cassar for providing me with all the knowledge, moral support, encouragement and guidance throughout my research.”
Professor Pierre Schembri Wismayer
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