Scientists from the Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have found a way to neutralize the protein survivin, which feeds the cancer. This was announced on Wednesday, April 21, at the press service of the regional government.
“Survivin is produced by cancer cells. Its main property is that the protein blocks the death of such cells and allows them to grow and change uncontrollably. At the same time, the quantitative growth of survivin is often associated with the development of the disease, ”the report says.
Krasnoyarsk scientists have found that if you apply a peptide to a given protein that recognizes survivin and “disarms” it, then tumor cells can die off. This can stop or reduce the spread of cancer. This will not affect normal tissue.
Yevgenia Bashmakova, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Biophysics of the Federal Research Center of the KSC SB RAS, noted that the main factor in the formation of tumors is dysfunction associated with cell death. However, the creation of drugs that affect the resumption of cellular processes can become a lever of influence on such tumors, the specialist said.
On April 17, experts of the conference dedicated to endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal neoplasms said that about 90% of submucous tumors in the digestive tract, which are often malignant, develop asymptomatically and can only be detected with the help of endoscopy. According to experts, most of these neoplasms are benign, but some are malignant: for example, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, which account for up to 80% of gastrointestinal sarcomas.