X-Message-Number: 5660 Date: 24 Jan 96 13:12:35 EST From: yvan Bozzonetti <> Subject: SCI.CRYONICS: CT-2584 drug. CT-2584 is the code name for a product with very interesting properties for life extension. The was an article about it on the "technology" page in the 20 January issue of "New Scientist" p. 18. Under the title: "Kinder" cancer drug goes on trial, there was the following informations: Around thirty patients with advanced cancer are to receive a drug produced by Cell Therapeutics Inc. from Seattle. CTI's drug, called CT-2584 targets phosphatidic acids ( the fatty signalling molecules in tumour cells) and enzymes producing it. According to CTI's president, these molecules are 10 -15 times more abundant in cancer cells. CT-2584 work by boosting production of these molecules until they destroy the energy factory of the cell. Starting with a lower concentration, normal cells are undisturbed by drug concentration up to 15 times as high as is required to kill cancercells.Screen tests conducted at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda give the same killing effect at the same dose on 65 different cancer types. The first human trial must be conduced in UK by Malcolm Ranson on behalf of the Cancer Research Campagn. Now, some comments: First, it is very interesting to have a low toxicity drug able to act against at least many cancers, or all of them. Second, there is a potential use of CT 2584 not envisionned in the paper: We know an important part of the ageing process comes from the limited reproductive capability of cells. This is produced by the so called telomere reduction. Each chromosome ends with a nonsignificant stretch of DNA. DNA copying proteins stick to that part and start to copy the next generation DNA as they move along the genetic material molecule. The DNA part under the initial position is not copied and after fifty copies or so, there is no more room to fix the Copying system on the DNA. The full DNA end can be regenerated by the telomerase enzymes, but few cells have it in a normal organ. This seems to be a evolutionary trait selected to limit cancer risks. If a cell loss its contact with nearby ones, it start to reproduce to close the wound. Some time, there are nearby cells but the communication system is cripled, if there is an infinite reproductive capability, this gives a cancer. May be one cell out of 100 000 have the imortal ticket in the body. There are products able stimulate the telomerase production in any cell and so turn them into non ageing lines, but the first effect would to expand by a factor of 100 000 the cancer risk. In this case, anyone looking after a telomere regenerating drug would end with many cancers in few months. The prospect of a nontoxic anticancer durg such CT-2584 is then particularly interesting. Even if the product don't work well on large mass of cancer cells, we know it work on isolated cancer cells, this is what would be found at start after using a telomerase stimulating durg. SO, whatever the current test outcome, we know it work for life extension. My last comment on the subject holds in that: Is there anybody able to get CT-2584 for life extension trial? Any comments or suggestions welcome! Yvan Bozzonetti. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=5660