IIT-Kgp begins cancer drug development

Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT-Kgp), have undertaken a research work to find herbal cure for cancer.

A team of scientists, headed by Ajoy Kumar Ray, head, department of electronics and technology, IIT-Kharagpur, are trying to clone and characterise the genes involved in cancer and gather their response to certain therapies, like herbal medicine.

Manitosh Mandal, assistant professor of the department, who was associated with the M D Anderson Cancer Center, USA, for more than 12 years, said, some components of honey had been found beneficial for the treatment of colon cancer.

Based on his preliminary investigations, Mandal has submitted a detailed project to the department of Science and Technology, for a Rs 40 lakh grant for continuing the project.

The entire cost of the project would be close to Rs 1 crore and would take at least three years for arriving at a conclusion, Mandal said. "With some herbal medicines, we can increase the survival rate of cancer patients by two-three years," said Mandal.

Presently, the research is being experimented on human cells line.

Subsequently, it will be carried out on animals human beings. Recently, a team of scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, had found extracts of triphala, an Indian herb, useful for treatment of cancer.

During the study, mice grafted with human pancreatic tumours were administered a triphala solution five days a week.

When the researchers compared them with those in control group of mice after four weeks, they found that tumours in triphala - treated mice were half the size of those in the untreated mice.

However, all the research works on herbal cure of cancer are still at rudimentary stages.