Searching for naturalcancer treatment

By Nina E. Tveter
Illustrations: Tor Åsmund Evjen

New types of cancer medication may soon be available. Scientists are trying to unveil the secrets of the immune system and thus enable the body itself to eradicate cancer cells.
NTNU is at the forefront of this field of work.

1) Healthy cells within the body (blue) are in constant communication. When a foreign cell (such as a cancer cell, purple) is detected, the healthy cells send out specially trained signal proteins (red) which warn the ...

Traditional radiation treatment and chemotherapy eradicate cancer cells, but they also do a lot of damage to healthy tissue. There is therefore is a lot of research being undertaken to find methods of treatment that cure without causing damage. The idea is to find a way to activate the body's own eradicating mechanisms or direct the immune system towards the cancer.

Recent research at NTNU and other universities around the world has provided us with new and revolutionary knowledge. In separate discoveries a group of American scientists (five years ago) and a single Japanese scientist (seven years ago) discovered two unknown types of proteins (belonging to the so-called Tumour Necrosis Factor Family). These are central components in the process involved when the body itself takes charge of the job of eradicating cancer cells. If scientists can manage to unveil the secrets of the immune system, this may lead to new methods for the treatment of cancer and other illnesses.

Gives the order to self-destruct

2) ...body's guerrilla soldiers - the so-called natural killer-cells (orange )- that a potential enemy has been detected.

Put simply, the immune system consists of different types of white blood cells or 'groups of guerrilla soldiers'. One of these groups consists of so-called natural killer-cells (NK-cells). These cells are responsible for a number of tasks, including that of making sure that cancer cells and other disease-producing organisms commit suicide, explains research student Ann-Charlotte Iversen at the Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Biology at NTNU. Recently her research has demonstrated that these NK-cells make use of two important proteins belonging to the Tumour Necrosis Family to trigger these suicidal reactions. These proteins are called TRAIL and Fas Ligand.

3) The NK-cell searches out the enemy to check whether it can be recognized. Ifnot, the enemy is ordered to commit suicide.

Scientists have great expectations for TRAIL in particular. (TRAIL: TNF-related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand.) Research has shown that TRAIL will eradicate cancer in monkeys and mice. Up to three months ago scientists believed that TRAIL had no side-effects on human beings. But unfortunately recent tests have indicated that TRAIL causes liver damage. As a result, American scientists have started tests to find out whether synthetically produced TRAIL treats human liver cells in a gentler manner.

Another way forward for this area of research is the attempt to activate the body's own TRAIL-producers, rather than giving the patient large quantities of the TRAIL-protein.

The search for more knowledge

4) The enemy suffers a so-called controlled death (apoptosis). The remains of the cell are devoured by digesting cells (phagocytes).

Intense research is going on at NTNU as well as at other universities around the world to find out more about how the proteins in the Tumour Necrosis Factor Family actually work, what mechanisms the NK-cells and TRAIL use in order to eradicate cancer cells, and why TNF-proteins can eradicate some cancer cells and not others. The TNF-proteins ensure that the NK-cells eradicate cancer tumours, but they are also needed to develop immune organs such as the lymphatic system. The body can become over-stimulated by TNF when it has to deal with serious infections. In such cases the TNF must be blocked in order to re-balance the system. The key to future treatment methods for a range of illnesses - including meningitis, osteoporosis, heart complaints and cancer - is probably to be found within this field of research. The knowledge of how TNF-molecules function within the body has already led to new types of medication in the treatment of arthritis and the intestinal complaint known as Crohn's disease, says Professor Anders Sundan. He is one of the scientists at NTNU who have been conducting research for many years on the importance of TNF-molecules for meningitis and leukaemia. This research is now to be further pursued within a large project funded by the EU that includes many European partners.

* Contact at NTNU: Anders Sundan
Tel: + 47 73 59 86 67
E-mail: anderss@medisin.ntnu.no