UM scientists are making great progress in developing a new treatment designed for female patients suffering from ovarian cancer.
Dr Duncan Ayers, a cancer researcher at the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Biobanking, explained that in these cases the tumour would not have completely disappeared from the patients’ bodies, also since the cancer has become resistant to conventional chemotherapy. Dr Ayers’ research however seems to be finding a solution to this through a combination of chemotherapy and cancer-influencing genetic factors, known as microRNAs.
“In our studies, we reduced the size of the tumour by 50% with a six-day treatment...”
This formula has been found to also work on breast cancer and neuroblastoma tumours in children.
Dr Ayers mentioned that such research costed already over €500,000 in funding since he started working on it 10 years ago.
The research is being carried out in collaboration with the University of Ghent in Belgium, and is currently supported by the ALIVE Charity Foundation and the HSBC (Malta) Foundation.
Donations for continuing the funding of such research efforts can be placed with the ALIVE Charity Foundation.