Cancer cells turned into weapons against tumours, Japanese researchers reveal

Japanese researchers at RIKEN, led by Katsunori Tanaka, have developed an experimental technique that uses carbon monoxide produced by cancer cells to generate anticancer compounds inside them. A metal-based catalyst drives the reaction, which occurs mainly in cancer cells. In laboratory tests, toxic compounds formed in several cancer cell lines but not in a noncancerous one. Though early-stage, the approach could reduce chemotherapy’s damage to healthy tissues and open a new direction in cancer treatment.

Japanese scientists have developed an experimental technique that turns carbon monoxide produced by cancer cells into a weapon against the tumours themselves, Vanguard reports.

The research, led by Katsunori Tanaka at the RIKEN Pioneering Research Institute in Japan, was published in Nature Communications.

The researchers delivered a metal-based catalyst into cells, using the carbon monoxide available in cancer cells as chemical fuel for a reaction that manufactures an anticancer compound. In principle, the reaction activates mainly in cancer cells, where carbon monoxide is plentiful, not healthy tissues.

In laboratory experiments, the technique generated toxic compounds in several cancer cell lines, while no detectable production occurred in a noncancerous cell line.

Cancer treatment has long faced a problem, as drugs strong enough to destroy malignant cells can also injure normal ones. Chemotherapy, for instance, can cause nausea, fatigue, hair loss and immune suppression.

Although still at an early experimental stage, the findings could open a new direction in cancer treatment. The work forms part of therapeutic in vivo synthetic chemistry, which uses chemical reactions inside living organisms to make therapeutic substances.