Earth metals are known for their massive use in drugs, and have been common among over-the-counter medicines, but one of the rarest and most popular elements, gold, has recently been used for creating a drug for cancer. The recent groundbreaking discovery by RMIT Australia and its partner Indian institutions has developed a new gold-based drug that offers a promising ability to fight against cancer.
According to the latest study shared by the team, their gold-based cancer drug helped in significantly slowing down cancer tumor growth by as much as 82 percent and was found more effective than traditional treatments.
New Gold-Based Drug Show Promising Fight Against Cancer
Australia's RMIT University recently shared that its researchers and partner institutions from India have discovered a groundbreaking development in the global fight against cancer, and they are resorting to one of the most coveted Earth metals, gold. The team's discovery during their study led to the development of a gold-based compound which it claimed to be 27 percent more potent for cervical cancer treatment, compared to the chemotherapy drug, cisplatin.
Moreover, the team also tested the said golden drug for prostate cancer where it was found to be 3.5 times more effective, while its lab-based administration of the new compound against fibrosarcoma cells was 7.5 times better.
The study's project lead and RMIT Professor Suresh Bhargava AM shared that "These newly synthesized compounds demonstrate remarkable anticancer potential, outperforming current treatments in a number of significant aspects including their selectivity in targeting cancer cells."
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Hinders Tumor Growth by 82 Percent, Better Than Chemo
The study also shared that it found that the gold-based drug can effectively hinder cervical cancer tumor growth by 82 percent based on its recent test involving laboratory mice, while cisplatin only offers 29 percent.
Despite the promising numbers of its latest gold-based compound, Professor Bhargava claimed that they are still "way off" human trials in the present, but are already seeing stellar results in their tests. The team's study is published in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
Gold for Medicine is Promising Significant Effects
Researchers made significant headway in using one of the rarest Earth metals for developing drugs against infections and diseases, with studies discovering that gold can be used for more than just jewelry. Spanish researchers previously shared in their study that using gold to develop antibiotics is highly effective in treating 'superbugs' or drug-resistant bacteria.
This specific focus on developing gold-based antibiotics has been lauded and recognized as one of the possible solutions to defeating the notorious superbugs that are known for claiming as many as 700,000 lives annually. With that, the World Health Organization (WHO) already stressed the importance of drug development to curb the number that may inflate to killing 10 million people per year come 2050.
It may be peculiar to use something as precious and rare as gold for developing medicine, but it is important to note that this element is also famous for its antibacterial characteristics that make it a promising solution for the medicine industry. Now, researchers have turned to gold for a novel drug targeting another heinous killer, with its recent test on animals showing a promising fight against a cancer tumor's growth.
