Tata Institute comes up with a ₹100 drug to prevent cancer recurrence; doctors to start human trials soon

Researchers at the Tata Institute in Mumbai announced the development of a novel drug aimed at preventing cancer recurrence, according to a report by Hindustan Times. The researchers and doctors at the institute have reportedly worked for 10 years and have now come up with a tablet which they claimed would stop the occurrence of cancer for the second time in patients.

The tablet is priced at ₹100 per piece, according to Business Standard.

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“We did a little experiment in which we took human breast cancer cells and implanted them in immunodeficient mice,” said Dr Indraneel Mittra, the onco-surgeon-turned-scientist who led the TMH doctors in the study, as quoted by Hindustan Times. “Within six weeks, a small tumour was formed. We divided the mice into three categories according to the cancer treatment—chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery. We found that all the three treatments increased chromatin in the mouse brain.”

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“We found that a combination of resveratrol and copper helped in destroying chromatin. We used the combination to be given orally in our studies and found that it prevented metastasis,” said Dr Mittra, who added that while this was the outcome of the experiment on mice, the team would now do human trials, as per the HT report. Dr Mittra joined TMH in 1982 as the country’s first “surgeon scientist”.

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Mittra further explained that after confirming the presence of chromatin particles following cancer treatment, the team’s focus shifted towards reducing treatment-related toxicity (side effects) in various human cancers, such as stomach, brain, oral, and blood cancers through clinical trials, as per the Hindustan Times report.