Indian scientists develop ‘smart’ cancer drug that targets tumour cells

(File Photo/IANS)

New Delhi, (IANS) Indian scientists have developed a new smart cancer drug candidate designed to become active primarily inside cancer cells, offering a potentially more targeted approach to cancer treatment and reducing the risk of damage to healthy cells.

The research has been led by Dr Asis Bala of the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, in collaboration with Dr K.P. Bhabak of the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati.

The drug candidate, named RK-251, is designed to remain relatively inactive in normal tissues and become activated inside cancer cells, according to reports.

Conventional cancer treatments can affect healthy cells along with tumour cells, often resulting in significant side effects.

The new approach seeks to overcome this limitation by using a biological difference between cancerous and healthy cells as a trigger for drug activation, the report noted.

Cancer cells typically generate higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), molecules that can cause cellular damage but can also be exploited for targeted drug delivery. When RK-251 enters a cancer cell, the elevated ROS levels are designed to trigger activation of the compound, releasing NBDHEX, a potent anticancer agent.

NBDHEX works by targeting proteins that are important for the survival and treatment resistance of several cancer cells. By releasing the compound primarily in the cancer-cell environment, RK-251 could potentially deliver its anticancer action more selectively while limiting exposure to healthy tissues.

In preclinical experiments, RK-251 showed strong activity against aggressive triple-negative breast cancer cells, while producing considerably less effect on healthy cells. The findings indicate that the ROS-responsive mechanism could help improve the selectivity of cancer treatment.

The researchers also evaluated the drug candidate using zebrafish embryos (Danio rerio). The experiments did not show obvious signs of toxicity, while the compound displayed the expected fluorescence in the presence of reactive oxygen species. This provided additional evidence for the proposed mechanism of action and supported further investigation of the drug candidate.However, RK-251 is still at the preclinical research stage and is not yet available as a treatment for patients. Further laboratory studies, safety assessments and validation through appropriate clinical trials will be necessary before the drug can be evaluated for use in humans. Indian scientists develop ‘smart’ cancer drug that targets tumour cells | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com

Read More........→August 29, 2026

Woman Can See Again After World’s First Transplant of a Central Retina

Elena with her dog Joe, and Professor Michele Reibaldi – credit, Ospedale Molinette, supplied

From Turin comes a surgical world-first: the simultaneous transplant of a complete human macula, along with the cornea, sclera, and connective tissue, from one of the patient’s eyes to the other.

It allowed a woman blind for several years to immediately gain enough vision to recognize both her son and her faithful canine companion, Joe.

La Stampa, a Turn-based national newspaper, reported that the intervention was lead by the “intuition” of ocular surgeon Professor Michele Reibaldi, who himself described the process as a “complicated marathon,” lasting 6 hours and requiring careful coordination by surgeons, anesthetists, and orderlies.

The patient was 67-year-old Elena, who lost her eyesight in a road incident which completely severed the optic nerve in her left eye. Responsible for transmitting light absorbed and delineated through the eye to the brain, the irreversible damage was not shared by the rest of eye tissues, which remained largely intact.

In an interesting coincidence, the reverse was true for her right eye. While the optic nerve was undamaged, the trauma of the crash destroyed other parts of her eye including the retina, the cornea, and the portion of the eye containing ocular stem cells, rendering any hope of a normal corneal transplant impossible.

In short, there was enough undamaged components between her two eyes to create one that could function. The only problem was that it would require a surgery never done in the history of medicine, a macular transplant. The macula is a small, light-sensitive region at the back of the retina, itself located in the middle of the eyeball, responsible for high-definition sight. The common cause of blindness, macular degeneration, refers to this small tissue.

Elena also needed a new cornea, and the sclera—the white of the eyeball. Professor Reibaldi resolved to salvage those from the left eye and transplant them all to the right eye, in which the ocular nerve was preserved through the crash.

“This procedure represents a new frontier in ocular surgery,” Reibaldi, who practices at the Molinette Hospital in Turn’s City of Health and Science, said according to a translation. “Before today, such a contemporaneous transplant of the anterior eye tissue had occurred just once before, while the central retina has never been possible.”

“Now we will wait and see how well the transplanted retina functions, though early signs are encouraging.”

Follow-ups have confirmed that the tissues have reattached correctly, and that Elena is regaining sight in her right eye.Reibaldi praised the extraordinary collaboration within the team which carried out the procedure, before adding that the biggest prize for them was “the incredible moment in which Elena, opening her eyes, could finally recognize her son and faithful companion in life, Joe the dog.” Woman Can See Again After World’s First Transplant of a Central Retina

Read More........→August 27, 2026