Monday, May 27, 2013

UNLV's Dr. Bryan Spangelo's New Treatment for Cancer, May 24, 2012

Dr. Bryan Spangelo's New Treatment for Cancer
Novel Formulations of Cisplatin - Thurs, May 24th

I am interested in helping to solve two fundamental problems within the area of cancer chemotherapeutics.  We know that cancer drugs can be toxic resulting in side effects.  We also know that once a cancer returns from a previous remission that a cancer drug which was effective before will no longer prevent the cancer from spreading (i.e., the tumor is resistant).

Dr. Bryan Spangelo's talk:
* Overview of chemotherapy
* Cisplatin and other chemotherapeutic options
* How his formulations may improve the use of platinum-based chemotherapeutics.
* Thursday, May 24th 11:30 & 12 noon program & Lunch.
* McCormick & Schmicks 335 Hughes Center Dr. $30. (UNLV Students Free)

Dr. Spangelo's lab and Dr. Pradip Bhowmik's lab in the UNLV Department of Chemistry, are attempting to isolate novel chemotherapeutics with enhanced potencies and efficacies.

We (Dr. Spangelo & Dr. Bhowmik) have synthesized novel analogues of the platinum-containing drug cisplatin.  This drug is effective for many solid tumors (colon, lung) but has severe side effects for the patient. As for all chemotherapeutic drugs, cisplatin is less effective in treating a cancer that has returned from remission.  Our new drugs which also contain platinum are much more effective in killing cancer cells in the test tube compared to cisplatin, opening the possibility that these new drugs might be more effective than cisplatin in lower doses.

Hopefully our new cancer drugs may someday be useful in clinical settings for providing a less-toxic alternative to cisplatin and to replace cisplatin for tumors that come out of remission and are resistant to cisplatin. Dr. Bryan Spangelo


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