The Institute of life Sciences (IlS) in collaboration with clinicians and cancer biologists in a partnership mode would carry out research on cancer, said Dr Sandip K Mishra, Senior Scientist at the IlS.
A research group led by Dr Mishra has made very important findings recently in the area of breast cancer that have implication for treatment of breast cancer and these have been published in two international journals - BioMed Central (BMC) Cancer and Cell Death and Diseases, during last month. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in women worldwide, caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Dr Mishra’s group, using mice model as well as human cancer samples, have experimentally proven that nicotine has a significant role in breast cancer and has reported that one of the cancer promoting genes (oncogene) named “enhancer of zeste homolog 2” (EZH2) is associated with the nicotine related breast cancer in smoking population.
They have identified that the inhibitor of this enzyme could be used as a drug to checkmate the nicotine associated breast cancer and metastasis. In the other study, they have reported that plant derived Artemisinin can effectively be used for treatment and control of breast cancer. Using human breast cancer cell lines and samples, the research has proved that cell motility, a major cause of spreading of cancer in the body, can be prevented using artemisinin. In combination with a prognostic marker molecule (ERR-beta) that Dr Mishra’s group had identified earlier, artemisinin can be used for breast cancer therapy.
IlS Director Dr Ajay Parida appreciated the scientific contribution of Dr Mishra and his students. He mentioned that the research carried out at IlS has made significant progress and in the coming years, the IlS in partnership with other institutions will focus on product development coming out of the research initiatives. In addition, the IlS will also aim at working on locally relevant problems using advanced biotechnology.