Revolution in treatment: Russians have developed a drug against breast cancer

According to the authors of the study, the synthesized compounds showed high efficacy and reduced toxicity compared to commonly available commercial drugs, as reported by the RIA Novosti news agency.

Despite progress in the treatment of Breast cancer, which is among the most common cancers worldwide, many patients experience relapse and side effects due to chemotherapy.

According to the study’s authors, the new compounds could form the basis for developing safer and more effective drugs.

“For the first time, we have obtained compounds that not only suppress tumor growth but also protect the body from toxic effects. This opens new horizons in cancer chemotherapy,” said scientist Alena Zikova from the Research Institute of Advanced Materials and Resource-Saving Technologies at SUSU.

Scientists focused on the compound AV1, an ionic complex of platinum(IV) with tris(hydroxymethyl)ammonium cations and hexachloroplatinate anions.

Tests on breast cancer cell cultures showed that AV1 inhibits the growth of malignant cells twice as effectively as a widely used commercial drug.

According to Zikova, unlike conventional platinum-based chemotherapy, which often causes severe side effects and is prone to tumor resistance, platinum(IV) allows scientists to create compounds that are stable in the bloodstream but become activated directly inside cancer cells.

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Scientists used quantum chemistry and computer modeling during the research, the agency reported.

“The computer helps predict how a substance will behave in the body, whether it will bind to the desired protein, as well as its activity and how safe it is. Such approaches are of key importance for drug development,” said co-author of the study, research associate at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb, Jurica Novak.

If proven successful, the development of this project could become the basis for creating a next generation of domestically produced anti-tumor drugs, the Russian agency reported.

Scientists from South Ural State University (SUSU), the Ruđer Bošković Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences in India, and King Saud University in Riyadh participated in the study.