Hope for Aggressive Late-Stage Breast Cancer
A new clinical formulation extracted from Scutellaria Barbata, may provide physicians with a new tool in treating aggressive late-stage breast cancer.
The oral anti-cancer drug BZL101, developed by Bionovo Inc., is derived from the Asian botanical herba Scutellaria Barbata. Bionovo researchers believe the herb’s main agent has the ability to specifically identify and target malignant cells, leaving normal cells intact and healthy.
BZL101 works by eliciting a cancer cell’s innate mechanism of self-suicide, or apoptosis. The drug selectively releases Apoptosis Inducing Factor-1 (AIF1) from a cancer cell’s mitochondrial membrane. AIF then moves to the cell’s nucleus, disintegrating the DNA structure, and fragmenting and killing the cancer cell
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Researchers at The University of California at San Francisco and the Komen/UT Southwestern Breast Cancer Research Program at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center recently completed a phase I study on BZL101. They reported favorable data from these trials at the 28th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
