International Cancer expert discusses how to tackle cancer in India

Chandigarh, March 4, 2015: Noted international Cancer Scientist and Professor at the University of Texas, MD, Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas (USA), Prof Kapil Mehta today delivered the 3rd Basic Medical Science Colloquium at the Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh.

PU Alumnus working in the top cancer institute of the world, Prof Mehta spoke on the topic of ‘Rethinking War on Cancer’. 

In his lecture, Dr.Kapil Mehta discussed the current status of available anti-cancer treatment and treatments that are being developed. He focused on an out of box thinking approach forward against this deadly disease. He emphasised on the need to identify targets for developing new therapeutic strategies for treating untreatable (chemotherapy

resistant cancer) and metastatic disease, which account for more than 90 percent of cancer associated deaths.  

Dr Kapil emphasised that detecting cancer early is the best approach in war against cancer especially for countries like India. USA has been able to reduce the number of cancer deaths by early detection despite having higher incidence than the India, he added.

Dr Kapil also discussed evidence that aberrant expression of a pro-inflammatory protein, called transglutaminase type 2, protects cancer cells from toxic effects of chemotherapy.  The expression of this protein is highly up-regulated in drug resistant and metastatic tumors. 

It may be recalled that Dr Kapil’s research focuses on development of inhibitors for this protein and take it into clinical practice. The inhibition of this protein results in making tumors drug sensitive as well as decrease their metastatic potential. Dr Kapil has already received two patents for inhibition of this protein. Dr. Mehta’s laboratory is busy developing strategies to block the TG2 expression in hope that such inhibition would lead to sensitization of refractory tumors to chemotherapy. / (SK Vyas/Jalandhar)