Radioprotectors

While the radiation therapy is used to effectively to destroy cancerous tissues, it can have devastating side effect on healthy cells. It is desirable to have a drug which can protect some healthy cells without reducing the treatment’s effectiveness? Radio-protectors are drugs that protect normal (non-cancerous) cells from the damage caused by the high radiation dose used in radiation therapy. These agents promote the repair of normal cells that are exposed to radiation.

Amifostine may be the only drug approved by the FDA as a radio-protector. A single dose given to the laboratory animals shortly before receiving radiation therapy significantly reduce the radiation damage.

It is reported that the researchers at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, USA, have developed a new drug, code-named CBLB502 that can protect healthy cells and bone marrow during anticancer radiation therapy. The drug may even protect against the biological effects such as lethal gastrointestinal (GI) syndrome (as an antidote) which are likely to be caused due to excessive exposures of the full-body in radiation emergencies. However, these are studies involving animals and more research needs to be done in humans.