Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
School of Physical Sciences
Department of Chemistry
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
One of the more effective ways of treating bone cancer is by destroying cancerous cells with radiation. A central challenge posed by this method of treatment is that of minimising radiation damage to healthy cells. This challenge can be surmounted by using radioactive elements such as samarium or technetium, which have a short half-life and emit radiation at a low energy, thereby ensuring that their effect on living tissue is relatively brief and localised.
The radioactive element is then chemically attached to a drug that selectively targets and accumulates in areas with a high concentration of freshly-made bone cells – areas bearing evidence of the body’s attempts to repair cancer-induced bone loss. One of the obstacles that impair research on such drugs is the necessity of testing them on animals such as monkeys – a practice that is falling into increasing disfavour worldwide because of its ethical implications.
A research project initiated under the leadership of Prof Ignacy Cukrowski at the Department of Chemistry offers a means of expanding the knowledge base for bone cancer treatment while significantly reducing the need for animal experiments.
The project involves the development of a computational model that simulates the composition and effects of drugs designed for delivering radioactive elements to affected areas of the body. If the model indicates that a particular drug shows promising activity, the drug can be synthesised and tested in practice. The results of the experiments can then be used to refine the model and increase the accuracy of its predictions.
The project has grown into a multilateral collaboration that involves researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of South Africa, the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa, as well as partners in Portugal. Plans are underway to expend this collaboration still further by including partners from the Netherlands, Poland and Germany.
Prof I Cukrowski
Chemistry
+27 (0) 12 420 2512
ignacy.cukrowski@up.ac.za
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