Scorpion Venom Used To Target Brain Tumors
Clinical Trials Under Way In Central Fla.
POSTED: Friday, March 4, 2005
UPDATED: 10:03 am EST March 4,
2005
ORLANDO, Fla. -- A Central Florida cancer patient credits a new scorpion venom treatment with saving his life after being diagnosed with an extremely serious brain tumor, according to a Local 6 News report.
Patrick Brenner, 45, was diagnosed with a Malignant Glioma -- a brain tumor that kills 98 percent of people who get it.
"It started one year ago December, Brenner said. "I did conventional radiation, chemotherapy. It showed some good results for awhile but the tumor started to grow again."
After standard therapy failed, Brenner tried a new treatment based on a protein found in the venom of the giant yellow Israeli scorpion.
Doctors at the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute in Central Florida inject a protein directly into the brains of patients during the treatment.
For some reason, the toxin can discriminate between healthy cells and cancerous ones.
"It acts to hone in and target tumor cells," Florida Hospital's Dr. Nick Avgeropoulos. "In the brain, it makes a big difference, of course, makes a big difference everywhere. But if you're a centimeter off in one place or another with respect to the brain, it can mean the difference between speaking or not lifting up the left side and not."
Brenner is the first patient in Florida to receive the scorpion venom.
"It's kind of a shocker at first, you know," Brenner said. "You don't realize that some type of scorpion venom can be a type of chemo but I guess it can."
The treatment is being developed by TransMolecular Inc., a biopharmaceutical company based in Birmingham, Ala., according to a report.
Watch Local 6 News for updates on this treatment.
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