There is hopeful news for cancer patients. Research has shown that carbon monoxide, a harmful gas also found in cigarettes, can help improve cancer treatment.
Anti-cancer researchers at the University of Iowa, US, found that carbon monoxide enhanced the anti-tumor effect in mice with metastatic cancer cells. According to research findings published in Advanced Science, a renowned international academic journal, carbon monoxide bubbles administered to rats significantly inhibited the growth of malignant tumors when used in combination with autophagy inhibition.
Inhibition of autophagy, or autophagy, is a process in which cells in our body obtain energy by killing themselves unnecessarily, and researchers have introduced a new type of cancer treatment using this principle.
“The carbon monoxide used for the treatment became an inhibitor of autophagy and increased its anti-tumor activity. These findings could provide a new approach to improve a variety of cancer treatments,” said Dr. James Byrne of the College of Medicine at the University of Iowa.
Experimenters who took carbon monoxide bubbles also showed anti-tumor reactions. In the study, cancer patients who responded best to autophagy inhibitor treatments had a higher percentage of smokers with high levels of carbon monoxide in their blood.
“In our experiments, we found that smokers who received autophagy inhibitors had a greater response than nonsmokers,” Dr. Byrne said. “We also saw a significant reduction in the size of the tumor cells.”
Carbon monoxide is a harmful gas that can cause serious illness if inhaled. If poisoned, symptoms include headache, dizziness, stomach pain, muscle pain and loss of strength and can even lead to death. It occurs not only in cigarettes but also in fires and in appliances that burn gas, wood, oil or coal.
In particular, smokers have high levels of carbon monoxide in their blood, which prevents the blood from delivering oxygen to the body.
As a result, the research team also developed a new type of blood gas analysis (GEM) equipment that can safely inject only carbon monoxide, focusing on increasing carbon monoxide levels while excluding risk factors for health like smoking.
※This is an online article from Weekly Chosun.
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