Researchers in the Department of Chemistry at Wake Forest University have been working alongside members of the university’s Health Science Comprehensive Cancer Center to formulate a new class of anti-tumor drugs. The platinum-based drugs have been proven to be about ten times more effective than drugs currently being used to destroy certain types of cancer cells.

Results of the study were published in the December 11, 2008 issue of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, as well as the Science-Business eXchange. Wake Forest University researchers believe that utilizing the new class of drugs will be a more effective method of treating non-small cell lung cancers.

In mice, the platinum-based anti-tumor drugs slowed the development of tumors significantly, according to Ulrich Bierbach, a chemistry professor at the university and principal investigator of the study.

“This is very good news,” Bierbach said.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related fatalities in both women and men.

The findings could benefit those suffering from mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused cancer that typically occurs in the pleural lining of the lungs, but may also be found in the lining of the abdomen or heart. Mesothelioma patients generally survive for less than two years after initial diagnosis, as there is no cure for this disease.

Bierbach and his team hope that their new class of drugs will enter clinical trials within the next few years. Their new focus is on lessening the side effects of anti-cancer drugs.

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