A medication called RAD001 may be the next drug that can stop the growth and spread of ovarian cancer cells. The new medication targets an enzyme known as mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). The drug stopped the cells so that they cannot divide anymore or move o a different location and spread the cancer. The drug also reduces the cells ability to get nourishment from the blood vessels by a process called angiogenesis.
The new drug is a derivative of an immuno-suppressant drug called rapamycin.Cancer in humans includes a high level of activity of an enzyme called AKT. This enzyme controls the cell activities, cell divisions and how the cell will respond to chemotherapy. AKT pathway remains highly active for a lot of different types of cancer, and yet does some functions healthy for the body as well. That was one of the reasons that the scientists did not target the enzyme AKT but a new enzyme.
The researchers of the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia did the research and the study was presented at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
