This does not harm normal tissue because healthy cells have metabolic systems that remove hydrogen peroxide. Since radiation generates large amounts of superoxide, combining the drug with radiation therapy can generate high levels of hydrogen peroxide. Based on its ability to “mop up” damaging superoxide molecules, which are produced by radiation treatment, the drug is currently in clinical trials to test its ability to protect mucosal tissue from the side-effect of radiotherapy. It acts like a natural enzyme called superoxide dismutase and converts superoxide into hydrogen peroxide. The drug, known as Avasopasem manganese, is made by Galera Therapeutics. The study, published online May 12 in Science Translational Medicine, suggests that the drug’s dual effect is based on a fundamental difference between the ability of cancer cells and healthy cells to withstand the damaging effects of a highly reactive molecule called hydrogen peroxide, which is produced during the dismutation of superoxide. A small drug molecule that appears to protect normal tissue from the damaging effects of radiation, may simultaneously be able to boost the cancer-killing effect of radiation therapy, according to a new study led by scientists at University of Iowa, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and Galera Therapeutics, Inc.
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