Cuba announces new anticancer drug
News from Cuba | Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Cuban scientists have developed a new anticancer drug which, unlike other cytostatics, does not damage healthy cells, local daily Juventud Rebelde reported Sunday.
The drug penetrates the nucleus membrane of the malign cell and necrotizes it, this effect is different from any other cytostatics, which not only intoxicates the cell and kills it, but also affect healthy cells, the daily reported, citing Labiofam laboratories director Jose Antonio Fraga.
"Our antitumor drug affects only the malign cell tissue and it combines with the necrosis and apoptosis process," Fraga said.
The new drug, obtained from peptide RJLB14, will undergo toxicological and pharmacodynamic tests, later clinical trials on humans, and then will be applied to humans with the approval by organizations concerned, he said.
According to the Health Ministry, cancer is the No. 1 killer in Cuba, with 25 percent of the total deaths resulting from cancer.
