A new experimental drug kills fat cells

After a series of experiments on animals, an experiment will be carried out on 28 patients who suffer from both overweight and prostate cancer, whose weight reduction will also help them in the fight against cancer

Obese rhesus monkeys were able to reduce 11% of their weight in four weeks using a new experimental drug that selectively destroys the blood supply to fat tissue. The reduction in weight was also evident in the body mass index of the monkeys, whose genetic load is close to that of humans, and in the waist circumference. In the control group that was not treated with a drug called Adipotide, no weight loss or improvement in the other indicators tested was reported. The study was carried out by researchers at the M.D. Cancer Center. Anderson, University of Texas in the USA. In the next step, 28 prostate cancer patients will be treated with the drug, with the aim of checking whether the drug will help them reduce their weight and improve the success rate of cancer treatment.

In early studies carried out with the drug, obese mice treated with the drug lost 30% of their weight. The innovative mechanism of action of the drug inhibits the blood supply to the "white fat" tissue, the scientific name for the unhealthy fat that accumulates under the skin and in the abdominal area, and is recognized as a predictor of disease and mortality.

The study was conducted at the Anderson Cancer Research Center in light of the fact that obesity is among the leading risk factors, along with smoking, for the development of cancer. Furthermore, obese cancer patients who need surgery, radiation or chemotherapy do less well in treatments than thin cancer patients, or those of normal weight.
"The development of the component for humans will allow us to provide a non-surgical way to reduce the accumulated white fat, in contrast to the current weight reduction drugs that try to control appetite or prevent absorption of the fat from food" says one of the authors of the study, Dr. Renata Pasquali from the Koch Center for Applied Research in Prostate Cancer in MD ANDERSON.

In a study carried out in rhesus monkeys, successful results were seen in the first three weeks. But in the fourth week there was a slowdown in weight loss. In addition, the study found that the drug causes damage to the kidneys, but this is a reversible damage that depends on the dose of the drug.

The results of the study are preliminary and further studies will be needed to examine the efficacy and safety of the drug.

Dr. Bashara Bashara, deputy director of the surgical array, director of the laparoscopic surgery unit, and acting director of the first surgical department at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa: "Despite the estimated investment of billions of dollars, unfortunately, to date no effective and safe medicine has been developed. In recent years, the drugs Reductil and Acomplia have been banned from use, in the world and in Israel, to treat obesity, due to severe side effects. Currently, the treatment that has been proven to be the most effective for the appropriate populations are obesity surgeries, the number of which is consistently increasing every year. The surgeries have been proven to prolong life and help to recover from dangerous and life-shortening diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, sleep apnea, hypertension, excess cholesterol and lipids in the blood."

to the notice of the researchers