Poison or cure? Arsenic can help treat cancer, study finds
Arsenic is infamous for its harmful properties. However, some arsenic compounds — in carefully measured doses — can be used in medical treatments. One such compound might even help treat cancer, researchers say.
Arsenic is often listed as a carcinogen, which is a substance whose presence in a person's environment can lead to the development of cancer.
However, some arsenic-based compounds have been used throughout history to treat various medical conditions.
One such compound — called arsenic trioxide (ATO) — is still used today, and it actually gained Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval under the marketing name Trisenox in 2001.
Now, researchers from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, MA, are investigating the potential of ATO in treating cancer.
Specifically, Drs. Kun Ping Lu, Xiao Zhen Zhou, and colleagues looked at how ATO in combination with another existing drug — all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) — can be used to actually cure promyelocytic leukemia, which is a type of blood cancer.
The mechanisms through which ATO in combination with ATRA can help cure this type of leukemia have been unclear, but this study sheds light on how these substances act at the cellular level, suggesting that their interaction may be useful in treating other kinds of cancer, as well.
