A team of US researchers has discovered a new drug that may protect egg cells from destruction during radiation therapy for cancer. They found that a chemical called sphingosine-1-phosphate (SIP) preserved the eggs and fertility of mice exposed to levels of radiation that would otherwise have destroyed their ovaries. The scientists, based at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, published their results in the latest issue of Nature Medicine.
The drug works by blocking the action of ceramide, a substance found in cells that normally triggers a 'cell suicide' pathway in response to radiation and chemotherapy. Author Jonathon Tilly says the drug is a promising prospect that could be given to women and girls undergoing cancer treatment to protect their ovaries, but notes that further research is needed before trials of SIP could be attempted in human subjects.
However, a spokeswoman for the UK's Cancer Research Campaign told BBC News Online that apoptosis [programed cell death] was the body's way of dealing with cells that had sustained damage to their genetic make-up. Stopping apoptosis might increase the risk of genetic defects, she added, though the US researchers said that offspring of their mice had so far shown no signs of this.
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