Interesting Excerpt

Dog treated for brain tumors: Experimental test a trial for humans

If it works for ‘Batman’ and other dogs, it promises effective treatment, say Minneapolis researchers

By Josephine Marcotty

Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Thursday, August 21, 2008

MINNEAPOLIS — Batman has always been a hero to Anna and Eric Baker. Not the comic book variety, but a furry, 38-pound, bat-eared one who patiently lets their toddler climb all over him.

Now, if all goes well, he may also become a hero for the thousands of people — and tens of thousands of dogs — who each year have brain tumors diagnosed that are equally fatal in both.

Batman, a Shepard mix, is having surgery to remove a brain tumor, August 5, 2008, at the University of Minnesota’s Veterinary Medical Center. It’s the same kind of tumor that is common in people. Cancer researchers will use his surgery for an experimental advanced treatment.

On Aug. 5, Batman was the first patient to get an experimental therapy that researchers at the University of Minnesota hope will cure his brain cancer, which is the same kind that Sen. Ted Kennedy has. If it works for Batman and other dogs, they say, it holds enormous promise as an effective treatment for people, too.

Scorpion Venom May Help Treat Brain Cancer

Chemical May One Day Be Used to Seek Out, 'Paint' Brain Tumors

By DAN CHILDS
ABC News Medical Unit

Aug. 11, 2008—

The sting of the Giant Yellow Israeli Scorpion packs a painful punch. Its venom contains a potent cocktail of neurotoxins that places an animal or human victim in excruciating agony.

It's not the first place most would think to look for a weapon against cancer. But doctors and researchers report that a particular component within this dangerous mix may be able to seek out brain tumor cells. And one researcher, as reported by ABC affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle, hope that doctors will one day be able to use this property to "paint" tumors for a surgeons to see.

"Right now it is difficult for a surgeon to be able to distinguish a brain tumor from the normal brain tissue around it," says Dr. James Olson of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He says that this situation often presents today's brain surgeon with an unenviable decision: choose either to cut aggressively, potentially damaging healthy brain tissue, or cut conservatively and run the risk of leaving tumor cells behind.

Enter T-601, the synthetic version of a chemical first found in the scorpion's sting. Neurobiologist Harold Sontheimer of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who was the first to explore the medical potential of this chemical, found that it was able to pass into the brain unobstructed. That's a feat for most chemicals, as the membrane that separates the brain from the bloodstream (known as the blood-brain barrier) is notoriously impermeable.