SBC, Ohio State University to Conduct Clinical Trial of Silverstrol

KUCHING (Sarawak Malaysia) Nov 1 (Bernama) -- Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) and US's Ohio State University are expected to collaborate on a clinical trial of silvestrol as a potential anti-cancer agent. SBC chief executive officer Dr Rita Manurung said the joint project will involve further development and commercialisation of silvestrol, derived from the Aglaia trees in Sarawak, based on an agreement between the US institute and SBC. "The agreement will help control costs and expedite further development of silvestrol for potential use in multiple types of cancer," she said in a statement released Thursday. SBC, which is responsible for research on biological resources in the state, will carry out a survey and inventory of the resources to provide raw plant materials to Ohio State University. Dr Manurung said the institutions were also investigating other leads to maximise silvestrol yields and to identify potential new agents that could be useful for semi-synthetic production of silvestrol. Since 2004, researchers at Ohio State’s College of Pharmacy and Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute - have worked together on silvestrol. The team’s early studies indicated that the agent may help treat acute and chronic leukemia, mantle cell lymphoma and other incurable malignancies. Silvestrol kills cancer cells by directly blocking the initial step in the process cells use to make proteins. Findings published in the journal, Clinical Cancer Research, suggest that silvestrol may be effective for treating mantle cell lymphoma. Ohio State is among 41 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centres and one of seven centres funded by the NCI to conduct phase I and phase II clinical trials in the US. -- BERNAMA