New Peptide Synthesised To Kill Melanoma Cells

A peptide that mimics the activity of a virus protein in killing off cells of melanoma have been successfully synthesised by researchers.

Melanoma - the most virulent skin cancer and the leading cause of death from the disease.

Melanoma - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment & Prevention
Melanoma of the skin is a dangerous type of skin cancer that usually appears as a cancerous mole due to exposure to the sun’s damaging UV rays.

Taghrid Istivan of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) said lab tests with the peptide (short chain of amino acids) have shown that it kills melanoma cells, which may lead to new and non-invasive treatments.

"Currently, the only effective treatment for early stage melanoma is surgery to cut out the tumour and healthy skin surrounding the affected mole."

"The peptide we have developed is toxic to melanoma cells but leaves normal skin cells unaffected," said Istivan, the lead investigator of the study, according to an RMIT statement.

Melanoma Cells Become Invisible to Immune Cells by Changing Their External Characteristics
Ability of tumor cells to become invisible to defense cells by temporarily altering their external characteristics could be the reason for treatment failure.

Istivan and colleagues in RMIT’s Health Innovations Research Institute and the School of Applied Sciences tested the efficacy of a peptide that was designed to work like the proteins of the myxoma virus, a cancer-killing virus shown to be toxic to melanoma in previous studies."

"A virus protein is big, expensive to synthesise and has inherent risks when used in medical treatments, because all viruses can mutate."

Melanoma Risk High In Immunosuppressed Patients
Melanoma strikes roughly 1 in 50 people in the general population, Dr. Brewer says.

"By synthesising a small peptide that mimics the action of a protein, we can offer a stable, safe, targeted and cost-effective alternative," Istivan said.

The researchers used a novel bioengineering method developed at RMIT by Irena Cosic, professor and Elena Pirogova, from its School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, to design the peptide.

For Melanoma Drug Combinations Effective: Study
At the ESMO 2012 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna, promising new data on drug combinations to treat metastatic melanoma was presented.

These findings are being presented at the ongoing 40th Congress of the International Society of Oncology and Biomarkers in Jerusalem, Israel.

Source-IANS