Anti-cancer dream cream shrinks oral tumours, according to new peer-reviewed publication

The news report details that, “In a study that will be published soon in Molecular Therapy Oncolytics, researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) reveal that treating oral cancer cells with miR-634, a microRNA that targets pro-tumour factors, can increase the effectiveness of treatment with cisplatin.

“Over 90 per cent of cases of oral cancer are a type of cancer called oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Whilst OSCC can be treated with chemotherapy and radiation, many patients develop resistance to cisplatin, the main drug used to treat it.”

“We recently found that miR-634 counteracts some cell-protective processes, such as anti-apoptotic signalling and antioxidant scavenging, that are activated in cancer cells that are resistant to cisplatin,” says Phuong Xuan Tran, lead author on the study. “This suggests that increasing the amount of this small molecule in cells could increase their sensitivity to this drug.”