EL PASO, TX – Researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) have identified a novel pharmaceutical compound that successfully kills leukemia and lymphoma cancer cells, potentially paving the way for new forms of therapy.
The compound, called thiophene F-8, induces programmed cell death in leukemia and lymphoma cells, essentially sending a message to the cells to commit suicide and inhibiting the growth of new cancer cells.
Renato Aguilera, Ph.D., a professor in UTEP’s Department of Biological Sciences, is the principal investigator of the project that identified thiophene F-8. The team’s findings were recently published in the research journal PLOS One.
“The main goal of my research is to discover new cancer drugs that can treat different types of cancer,” Aguilera explained. “Not only has this research yielded amazing results, but it has also led to the training of five Ph.D. students who are now working as postdoctoral fellows in research labs across the country.”
Leukemia is a cancer of the blood cells, while lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system. As part of their research into the potential treatment of these cancers, Aguilera’s lab screened pharmacological compounds to determine their impact on various types of cancer cells.
The UTEP team tested 1,300 different compounds in human cancer cell cultures. Thiophene F-8 was the only compound that successfully induced programmed cell death in leukemia and lymphoma cells.
“The hardest thing about this type of research is figuring out exactly what a drug does,” Aguilera explained. “Thiophene F-8 appears to work by activating a natural mechanism in the body that kills cancer cells.”
Mia Swain, Ph.D., who helped discover and research thiophene F-8 as a doctoral student at UTEP, said the compound’s potential to work alongside existing therapies could be life-changing for patients with leukemia and lymphoma.
“Thiophene F-8 could be a new treatment option for patients with leukemia and lymphoma,” Swain said. “It could also be used in combination with other drugs to improve treatment efficacy.”
The UTEP team will continue to study the efficacy of thiophene F-8. If the drug is successful in further testing, Aguilera said, pharmaceutical companies could someday launch clinical trials to determine the compound’s effect on patients.
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