The drug huachansu, derived from dried toad venom secreted by the skin glands of toads from Asia, slowed the progression of cancer
in some patients, reveal the results of a Phase 1 clinical trial.
The drug is already in use in China and is administered to patients with liver cancer, non small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and colon cancer.
Huachansu, a traditional Chinese medicine, contains a water soluble Bufo toad skin extract that includes the cardiac glycosides bufalin and cinobufagin. The medicine has antineoplastic properties that stop tumors as well as antiangiogenic properties which stop tumors from making blood vessels.
The drug and its effects have never been "formally" studied, so it has not got the go-ahead from the FDA in the United States.
Encouraging findings
The researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center following rigorous quality control and standards in a clinical trial, found that treating cancer with higher doses of the toad venom derivative huachansu prevented progression of cancer, with no noxious side effects.
Till now, the results have been really encouraging. "We didn't see any side effects, even doses that are eight times the standard dose for this drug in China," said Dr. Lorenzo, one of the researchers.
"There was one one patient taking a low dose and had 20 percent regression of their tumor. This was quite encouraging, considering the only drug that they were receiving was the i.v. injection of Huachansu,” reported Dr. Lorenzo.
More work required
The doctor said that although the initial findings are promising, the studies of the toad venom are only in Phase 1clinical trials; hence the results have to be viewed cautiously.
He expressed his desire to team up with a pharmaceutical company and work towards developing a more effective oral formulation of the drug that would hold a lot of promise for future cancer treatment.
Zhiqiang Meng, principal investigator on the trial and an associate professor and deputy chair of the Department of Integrative Oncology at Fudan University Cancer Hospital said, "Even though we saw no complete or partial response (reduction of disease by 30 percent or more) it is encouraging that the cancer did not progress in a large set of the hepatocellular carcinoma patients.”
“Previous observations from studies conducted in China have shown that huachansu can inhibit tumor cell growth and improve immunologic function3. These findings, coupled with that knowledge, demonstrate the need for further clinical trials of this promising agent," added Meng.
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