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The researchers at Queensland University in Australia have developed a cancer drug that will not cause hair lose. The dreaded disease of cancer is usually treated by using radiotherapy or chemotherapy and even surgery. The application of radiotherapy or chemotherapy cause side effects like hair loss. In order to do away with the side effect of hair loss, the international team of researchers has developed a method that can shut down cancer-causing genes in tumour cells while sparing normal healthy tissues.
The Queensland University research team led by Sherry Wu has develop a new method that involves the use of coatings rich in fats which can lead to gene-silencing and inactivate specific genes involved in hair loss. The researchers have tested the new method on mouse models and discovered that there has been 70 percent reduction in the size of cervical tumors.
According to Sherry Wu, the gene-silencing drugs have to be packed in lipid-rich carriers so as to deliver them safely and efficiently into tumor tissues in the body. He informed that the traditional ways of packaging these drugs into suitable carriers are often complex and labour-intensive. He added that the research team is looking forward to combine this gene-silencing technology with low dose chemotherapeutic agents in cancer treatments.
