MONDAY, Oct. 2, 2006 (HealthDay News) -- An antibiotic called siomycin A shows early promise as an anti-cancer agent, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.
The study found that the antibiotic inhibits a gene called FoxM1, found at higher-than-normal levels in most human tumors. FoxM1 turns on genes needed for cell proliferation and turns off genes that block that proliferation. Uncontrolled proliferation is characteristic of cancer cells.
Siomycin A targets FoxM1 without affecting other cell functions and induces cancer cells, but not normal cells, to commit suicide, the study said.
The findings were published in the Oct. 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research.
Further laboratory and animal experiments must be done before scientists can conduct any human trials on the use of siomycin as a cancer agent.
For this study, the researchers used a new screening technique they developed that identifies specific small molecules. These molecules inhibit protein "switches" that turn genes on and off. This screening method offers scientists a rapid way to find agents that target genes believed to cause cancer.
Siomycin was the first such compound found using this new screening technique.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about understanding cancer.
