A bacterial strain that specifically targets tumors could soon be used as a vehicle to deliver drugs in frontline cancer therapy, the Science Daily reported Monday.
The strain is expected to be tested in cancer patients in 2013, says a scientist at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn Conference at the University of York, according to the report.
The therapy uses Clostridium sporogenes -- a bacterium that is widespread in the soil, the Science Daily said. Spores of the bacterium are injected into patients and only grow in solid tumors, where a specific bacterial enzyme is produced.
An anti-cancer drug is injected separately into the patient in an inactive “pro-drug” form, it said. When the pro-drug reaches the site of the tumor, the bacterial enzyme activates the drug, allowing it to destroy only the cells in its vicinity -- the tumor cells.
Researchers at the University of Nottingham and the University of Maastricht have now overcome the hurdles that have so far prevented this therapy from entering clinical trials, the Science Daily said.
They have introduced a gene for a much-improved version of the enzyme into the C. sporogenes DNA. The improved enzyme can now be produced in far greater quantities in the tumor than previous versions, and is more efficient at converting the pro-drug into its active form, it said.