Triptolide from a Chinese plant may enhance the action of anticancer drugs

A natural compound against tumor resistance

Triptolide — a natural compound derived from a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine — may help overcome tumor cells' resistance to treatment and increase the effectiveness of certain anticancer drugs. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University came to this conclusion; the study results were published in the journal Nature Communications. The story was reported by Gazeta.Ru.

How the mechanism works

The researchers tested triptolide's action on cancer cells in the laboratory and in animal experiments. According to the scientists, the substance blocks the enzyme DCTPP1, which helps the tumor withstand certain drugs: it destroys the active forms of the drugs, preventing them from fully affecting cancer cells.

Combination with decitabine

A particularly noticeable effect was recorded when triptolide was combined with decitabine — a drug that affects gene activity, including genes that suppress tumor growth. When the researchers added triptolide, decitabine worked more effectively and caused the death of a larger number of cancer cells. The authors also established that elevated DCTPP1 activity is associated with tumor resistance to treatment, so blocking the enzyme could become one way to increase cancer cells' sensitivity to existing drugs.

What's next

The authors of the work consider the approach promising for treating tumors that respond poorly to therapy. However, the results have so far been obtained only in laboratory and preclinical experiments: the safety and effectiveness of combining triptolide with anticancer drugs in humans still need to be studied. Earlier, at the end of October, it was reported that scientists discovered an unexpected weakness of cancer cells — that study was also published by Gazeta.Ru, but the publication does not say anything about a connection between those works and the new result.