University of Illinois biochemistry professor David Shapiro and chemistry professor Paul Hergenrother led the research on a drug compound, called ErSO, that kills cancer cells and shrinks tumors to undetectable levels. From the Illinois News Bureau:
Further studies in mice showed that exposure to the drug had no effect on their reproductive development. And the compound was well tolerated in mice, rats and dogs given doses much higher than required for therapeutic efficacy, the researchers found.
ErSO also worked quickly, even against advanced, human-derived breast cancer tumors in mice, the researchers report. Often within a week of exposure to ErSO, advanced human-derived breast cancers in mice shrank to undetectable levels.
The research has been reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
You can read more about the development here.
Top photo by L. Brian Stauffer from Illinois News Bureau.