Unorthodox cancer study focuses on scorpion venom

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Former Ledger cartoonist the late Stanley White, depicted in the self-portrait at right, was a participant in the study referenced by this article.)

By SAMIRA JAFARI

Associated Press Writer

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — In a small office walled with stacks of the latest brain cancer research, Dr. Harald Sontheimer seems most intrigued by the possible solution skittering inside a glass case on his desk — a giant Israeli scorpion.

Sontheimer and his research team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham discovered that the chemical compounds in this scorpion’s venom could be used to kill cancerous cells in the brain without harming the healthy cells nearby.

An initial clinical trial of 18 patients found that all the participants reported ‘‘feeling much better’’ after the treatment. Two even went into remission.

Now, UAB’s Brain Tumor Treatment and Research Program has teamed with the City of Hope Hospital in Los Angeles to enter the next phase of testing: administering multiple doses of the drug to some 60 patients from the South.

‘‘It’s a beautifully simple story, really,’’ Sontheimer said.

It’s about the giant Israeli scorpion, also known as the Israeli golden scorpion, and one of its victims, the cockroach. The scorpions, which can grow up to five inches and are found in the deserts of North Africa and Southwest Asia, have venom that’s safe to humans but fatally paralyzing to cockroaches.

The toxic molecules of the venom target a specific compound found on the muscles of the cockroach. Sontheimer found that the same compound that makes cockroach muscles vulnerable to the scorpion venom also exist on cancerous cells in the brain — making them a target for the venom, as well, with less dire results.

‘‘We scientist look to poisonous reptiles and insects because by nature they interact with the nervous system,’’ said Sontheimer, a native of Germany who is director of UAB’s cellular and molecular biology graduate program.

Many scientists have studied the possible use of venom treatments for cancer. At Texas A&M University-Kingsville, researchers are trying to stop the growth of various cancers by using snake venom to destroy the blood vessels that sustain the malignancies. A group of Australian researchers is testing whether bee sting can slice through a variety of cancer cells and, ultimately, divert patients from the harsh side-effects of chemotherapy.

An unorthodox ‘‘scorpion potion’’ taken by some 3,000 cancer patients in Cuba also has shown promise, at least from reported anecdotal evidence.

Sontheimer is trying to determine if the venom from the Israeli scorpion that binds to the cancer cells in the brain can be an effective treatment for primary brain tumors. These malignancies afflict some 18,500 in the United States annually and cause the deaths of 12,760 each year, according to the American Cancer Society.

Sontheimer said his venom-derived drug, produced by his Birmingham, Alabama

based company TransMolecular Inc., passed the first phase of clinical trial without endangering the lives of the 18 brain cancer patients taking various-sized doses by injections to the brain.

He said all of the patients met or surpassed the average survival time of 18 weeks after taking various one-time doses of the drug. The two remission cases received the largest does at 0.5 milligrams.

Researchers hope that administering multiple doses during the next phase will show that it can prolong patients’ lives indefinitely. Dr. Burt Nabors, who is overseeing the next clinical trial, said he expects the current lack of safe, effective treatments for cancerous brain tumors will speed up the Food and Drug Administration approval of the venom-derived drug. ‘‘In the case of brain cancer, there really is no good treatment. So the bar is set much lower for approval,’’ Nabors said.

The second phase is crucial because it determines the efficacy of the drug among a larger group of patients, said Dr. Richard Bucholz, a professor of neurosurgery at Saint Louis University, which participated in the first phase with three patients and had one of the two remission cases. ‘‘The major issue is: Does it work? A couple going into remission is fantastic, but that was from a small group,’’ he said. Bucholz said the only downside seen so far is that the drug is injected directly into the brain through a tube — a relatively brief procedure, but still risky.

‘‘It’s not like taking a pill. I don’t think we can come up with a molecule that can kill these cells that can be taken orally,’’ he said.

Malignant brain tumors kill most patients within a year of diagnosis. Currently, the most effective treatment available is surgery, which only removes large, visible masses and can leave behind scores of microscopic ones that can continue to grow.

Research shows that chemotherapy and radiation are common follow-up treatments, but do not assure prolonged life.

Even more frustrating, Sontheimer said, is the lack of knowledge about the cause of such tumors.

Researchers have found that exposure to heavy radiation and a carcinogen called vinyl chloride may contribute to brain cancers, but make up a small percentage of brain tumor patients.