An unexpected finding in preclinical platelet studies by Baker Institute researchers could provide a novel approach to targeting and destroying difficult-to-treat cancer cells, providing new therapeutic options for a range of cancers.
An unexpected finding in preclinical platelet studies by Baker Institute researchers could provide a novel approach to targeting and destroying difficult-to-treat cancer cells, providing new therapeutic options for a range of cancers.
This latest finding, published in the journal Theranostics, was discovered while studying activated platelets in the setting of heart disease and may now prove useful for delivering targeted treatment to cancer cells without major side effects.
Early detection of cancer is crucial for successful therapy. However, some cancer types do not have specific cancer surface markers that can be used to detect them and even the same cancer type can exhibit different properties in different patients.
Professor Karlheinz Peter, Deputy Director of Basic and Translational Science at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute has been working for many years with platelets, which are small blood cells in the circulation that mainly promote blood clotting (e.g. platelets are the main perpetrator of a heart attack) and prevent us from bleeding when we are injured. In his recent experiments, he observed that platelets and more specifically, 'activated platelets' accumulate in the area surrounding a wide range at tumour types.
Read more at Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
Image: Professor Peter's team has now developed a new imaging and platelet targeting chemotherapy agent for the early detection and treatment of cancers. (Credit: N/A)
