From LUCIE VAN DEN BERG HERALD SUN MAY 09, 2014 2:00AM
'...The solvent, called NMP (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone), is also found in fabrics, paints, medical patches, joint replacement surgeries and dental barriers.
Head of the centre’s Gene Regulation Laboratory Professor Ricky Johnstone said they made the serendipitous discovery when using the solvent in the lab to test cancer agents in multiple myeloma models.
Their latest findings show the solvent reawakens thousands of genes that have been silenced in cancer cells in mice models.
Prof Johnstone said pharmaceutical companies had spent considerable amount of money and time trying to make a compound that does exactly what the solvent does.
“It does two things, it reawakens the genes inside the tumour cells and stops the tumour cells from growing, but also it activates the immune system.. so it can kill the tumour cells.”
They found it did not have any harmful effects on normal cells and it has the benefit of already been tested for human safety.
Prof Johnstone said it was exciting to know that the solvent, which was cost effective and plentiful, held promise for a new or improved treatments in other cancer types. ...'
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Ric: Low-risk MDS (blasts <4%); 4 cycles Revlimid no positive response; PRBC transfusion dependent; so far, 392'units' over 8 3/4 years; BMB #4 (15/04/01) shows evolution to AML (blasts 20-30%
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47,XY,del(5) (q22q35),+21[24][cp24]/46,XY(1).