Scientists May Have Found A Way To Make Radiation Therapy Safer

Washington, DC (AHN) - University of Pittsburgh medical researchers say they have found a way to simultaneously reduce the toxic effects of radiation therapy in cancer patients while also increasing tumor death.

The researchers in a statement called the discovery a potential "Holy Grail of cancer therapy."

More than half of cancer patients are treated with radiation to kill malignant cells. But the therapy can also destroy healthy cells, which can cause side effects like nausea and vomiting, skin sores and rashes and weakness and fatigue. In mouse experiments, the Pitt researchers found that blocking a molecule called thrombospondin-1 from binding to its cell surface receptor, which scientists call CD47, gives normal tissue almost complete protection from both standard and high doses of radiation.

The Pitt researchers also worked with scientists from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. The study appears in the Oct. 21 edition of the journal Science Translation Medicine.