A new drug called HA15 has been developed to treat melanoma. It is tested to find reducing the viability of melanomacells without being toxic for normal cells. A destructive form of cancer, Melanoma affects melanocyts, cells responsible for the synthesis of melanin, which gives skin its colour.
The tumour progresses in three stages- radial growth, where the cells proliferate in a disordered manner in the epidermis, the vertical growth, where the dermis is invaded, and the metastatic phase, where dissemination of the cancer cells in the peripheral tissues occur. While positive results have been obtained for treating the metastatic phase, most patients will need additional treatments to prevent the tumour from coming back, and prevent more metastases from developing.
Stephane Rocchi from the University of Nice, along with his group of researchers, discovered a new family of drugs, the Thiazole Benzensulfonamides, which have found to contain useful anti-cancer properties. "Initially, this family of drugs was identified in type 2 diabetes, as it increased the sensitivity of cells to insulin. If we wanted to use it against cancer, we had to be able to eliminate this proinsulin activit. Thus we started top modify its structure," Rocchi said.
After many attempts, the initial TZD structure was extensively modified to obtain a formulation in which the "lead compound" was called HA15.
