Botanical drug is shown to help patients with head and neck cancers

In this study, UCLA researchers found that when APG-157 is taken through oral mucosal absorption, patients have high levels of curcumin circulating in their blood and absorbed by cancer tissues.METHODUCLA researchers conducted the study of APG-157 comparing 12 people who had oral and oropharyngeal cancer with a control group of 13 people who did not have cancer. The reason both the people with cancer and without cancer were part of the study was to show that the drug was not toxic to either people with cancer or those without cancer.The medication was given each hour for three hours and was delivered as a lozenge that slowly dissolved in the mouth. Blood and saliva samples were collected beforehand — each of the three hours the medication was administered — and 24 hours after the last dosage. The medication was given to 12 people (some who had cancer and some who did not) and a placebo was given to 13 people. Blood and electrocardiogram tests did not show increased toxicity in the people w ho took the active medication in comparison with the people who took the placebo, regardless of whether they had cancer or not.For the cancer patients who took the medication, there was a decrease in Bacteroides and an increase in T cells in the tumor tissue as compared to cancer patients who took the placebo. Neither the subjects nor the investigators knew whether the drug or a placebo was given when reviewing the blood and saliva test results of the blinded study.IMPACTAPG-157 is a bo...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news