There may be a new tool in the arsenal of the fight against cancer — more specifically, in the fight against HPV-caused cancers, which do not respond as well to traditional treatment methods like chemotherapy or radiation.
Researchers at Loma Linda (Calif.) University School of Medicine discovered a novel compound known as GA-OH, which acts as an inhibitor to HPV E6 cancer cells that are normally difficult to treat.
The findings, published Feb. 10 in Frontiers of Oncology, found that using the inhibitor together with radiation therapy was an effective treatment for in laboratory settings. The GA-OH compound was able to target and disable the E6 protein in the cancerous HPV cells, according to a Feb. 16 news release from the university.
The study is said to be the first of its kind. Though results were positive, the outcomes using the newly discovered compound to treat HPV has only been tested so far in mice. So, it is still too early to know how it could move forward to human treatment.