Cancer drug shows promise in treating spinal injuries--study

After spinal cord injuries, many factors halt the regeneration of nerve cells, which are networks of neurons in the spinal region that are thought to produce an automatic walking motion.

According to experts, re-growth of nerve cells, known as axons is halted because of the formation of scar tissue and the blockage of microtubules, small protein tubes in the cell cytoskeleton.

The researchers found that the drug Taxol when given to rats with spinal injury targeted the damaged sensory neurons.

The cancer drug not only stimulated their capacity to re-grow but also reduced the barrier created by the scaring of nerve cells in the spine.

Co-author of the study, Frank Bradke, of the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Germany stated, "The good thing about Taxol is that it actually does both things at once.

"On the one hand, it basically gets these neurons to start to grow, like a crazy driver, and at the same time, it also reduces these stop signs, it reduces the scarring process.”

Experiment on rats
In a bid to determine whether Taxol has the potential to repair damaged nerve cells, the researchers conducted preliminary experiments on rodents.

As a part of the study, the researchers supplied a low concentration of Taxol through a miniature pump to treat rats with spinal cord injuries.

After six to eight weeks of treatment, it was noted that the drug Taxol promoted the fast regeneration of the damaged sensory neurons and also cut the amount of scaring in axons.

The treatment with the cancer drug improved the mobility of the rats and led to better function in their walking ability.

Dr. Andres Hurtado, study author and research scientist in the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at Kennedy Krieger Institute stated, “The drug essentially reorganizes the cells’ microtubules allowing them to ignore ‘stop signs’ and to regrow through diminished scar tissue.

“It is a breakthrough for the cells and it puts us on a very promising path.”

Need for further research
The researchers are optimistic that Taxol which showed promise in rats will also work equally well in human trials.

Taxol is already approved for use in breast and lung cancer treatment, hence the drug has a greater chance of being accepted by the human body.

However, the researchers feel there is need for further studies before clinical trials are conducted.

"We are still in the state of basic research and a variety of obstacles remain - and eventually, pre-clinical trials will need to be done," said Frank Bradke.

The study has been published in the online issue of the journal 'Science.'