Sancar made the first statement about his work, which he described as an “exciting discovery”, on February 17, 2022. Sancar, who has been conducting extensive studies in his laboratory and continuing his experiments on mice, answered questions about the scientific stage he has reached.
Stating that he worked for 10 years on the subject “mapping at the molecular level how cells protect genetic information by repairing damaged DNA”, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize, Sancar said that he continues his research in different fields with this knowledge.
Stating that one of the most used chemical substances in molecular biology is the EdU molecule, Sancar stated that scientists discovered a few years ago that EdU put into cell culture kills both normal cells and cancer cells, but the studies could not be progressed.
Stating that brain tumors rank 10th among the causes of death, Sancar said that existing cancer drugs that cannot pass the “blood-brain” barrier are insufficient to affect this type of cancer.
“IT CROSSES THE BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER”
Stating that the drug called “Cisplatin”, which is used in the majority of cancer patients, cannot pass through this barrier, Sancar stated that the EdU molecule can enter the brain without any problems and said, “In our discovery, the compound we introduced easily enters the brain and kills the cancer cell.” he said.
Sancar, who informed that they started mouse experiments after laboratory experiments, explained this process as follows:
“By consulting with neuroscience departments at universities, a life-like cell size was created by taking a human brain tumor piece and placing it on mouse brain slices. Human tumor cells were injected into the mouse brain and we looked at the effect of EdU on brain tumors. In mice, while the existing drug had a better effect at first, 30- “After 40 days, we saw that the EdU molecule had a better effect, reaching 25 percent, and the results were better when combined with existing drugs.”
Sancar stated that, considering its toxicity and selectivity towards rapidly dividing cells, the possibility of using EdU in cancer treatment has emerged:
“EdU’s properties could make it the basis of an effective brain cancer drug. EdU can kill rapidly dividing cancerous brain cells while sparing non-dividing healthy brain cells. In brain cancer, EdU works in animals, we need to investigate its side effects in clinical trials for two years before it can be used in humans.” “During this period, we will have to focus on the side effects of the EdU molecule in humans. I am also trying to transfer this new method of DNA repair to Turkey.”