A compound that suppresses the growth of cancer cells and is relatively non-toxic to normal cells may one day be useful for treating several types of cancer, researchers report in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Laboratory experiments in human breast cancer cells suggest that the compound inhibits the constant activation of a protein called Stat3 that is found in several different types of cancer, including cancer of the breast, lung, prostate, head and neck, skin, pancreas and ovaries as well as lymphoma and certain kinds of leukemia.Stat3 is constantly activated in about 50 percent of breast tumors, said Jiayuh Lin, the study’s lead author and an associate professor of pediatrics at Ohio State University.All cells contain Stat3 protein, but in normal cells, Stat3 activities are only turned on temporarily. Researchers do know, however, that Stat3 is constantly turned on in certain tumor cells.
