New Chemotherapy Drug Could Revolutionize Cancer Treatment

One of the major problems with various drugs is the fact that they are highly insoluble, this means that we have to add detergents to them so that our body will be able to make use of them. Chemotherapy drugs have a particularly low solubility and a significant number of the side effects of chemotherapy are actually caused by the added detergents.  Over 40% of the new chemicals we discover that could be used to treat different illnesses are almost completely insoluble in water (Savjani).

Starpharma is in the first round of clinical trials for a modified version of a popular chemotherapy drug (“DEPTM”).  The name of the original drug is “Docetaxel,” Starpharma is currently working on DEPTM Docetaxel.  This version is highly soluble in water compared to most other drugs on the market, so detergents would not need to be added (Beveridge).  If the improved solubility of the drug isn’t enough, so far testing has shown that the drug is significantly more effective at treating tumours, it accumulates in the tumour and remains active better than the alternatives (Beveridge, “DEPTM”).

If this drug is successful in the rest of its trials it could be revolutionary in cancer treatment. The drug has been proven to work on breast, prostate, lung, and ovarian tumors (“DEPTM”); collectively those cancers are responsible for the death of 31 500 Canadians each year (CDN Cancer Society).  If we could knock that number down even by a few percent it would make a huge difference in the lives of thousands who would otherwise have lost their loved ones.

A link to the article can be found here.

Have you ever heard of drug solubility being an issue? Do you think that this drug could revolutionize cancer treatment?