[00:04.91]54) Anti-sense Technology
[00:10.55]Research scientists have reported success in using an experimental method
[00:17.97]called anti-sense technology to treat people with cancer.
[00:23.41]For years, researchers have tested anti-sense technology to treat cancer in humans.
[00:30.82]But thisis the first time some cancer patients have improved after getting the treatment.
[00:37.38]The findings were reported at the yearly meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
[00:45.79]The conference was held last month in San Francisco, California.
[00:52.19]Cancers result from mistakes in genetic information.
[00:57.99]Some genes produce large amounts of proteins that help cancers grow.
[01:04.55]The experimental treatment targets one of these genes, known as the B-C-L-Two gene.
[01:13.20]In some cancer patients, the B-C-L-Two gene produces a protein that protects cancer tumors from traditional anti-cancer drugs.
[01:24.87]The antisense treatment prevents the gene from acting.
[01:29.70]As a result,the drugs are able to attack cancer tumors.
[01:34.88]In the new study, researchers at the University of Vienna in Austria used an anti-sense drug.
[01:43.78]The drug was developed by Genta Incorporated,a company based in the American city of Lexington,Massachusetts.
[01:52.25]The researchers gave the anti-sense drug and the anticancer drug dacarbazine to fourteen people with advanced melanoma.
[02:03.87]Melanoma is a deadly kind of skin cancer.
[02:07.79]Earlier, dacarbazine and other anti-cancer treatments had failed to help most of the patients.
[02:15.39]However, the combination antisense treatment helped six of the fourteen patients.
[02:22.79]There was some improvement in five patients.
[02:26.94]In one patient,the cancer disappeared completely.
[02:31.48]The researchers said they believe the side effects of the treatment are acceptable.
[02:38.72]Some patients experienced changes in skin color,higher than normal body temperature and temporary liver problems |