"We discovered that this specific substance is blocking the signalling pathway in the cancer cells, and make them stop growing. It is not often that researchers discover a substance that targets specific molecules as precisely as this one, " says Professor Karl-Henning Kalland at the Department of Clinical Science, at UiB. He is the leader of the research group."
"in the study, the researchers discovered that it was the substance NTZ (nitazoxanide), a well known and approved anti-parasite drug, that decompose the activated Beta-catenin."
"We are the first researchers who have mapped the complex molecular mechanisms involved in this process," Kalland says."
NTZ attacks cancer celles by hindering the activated Beta-catenin. It appears that this hindering also stimulates central parts of the immune system, that attacks cancer cells.
"At the moment, we are working on how to strengthen our on going immune therapy against prostate cancer by using the mechanisms we discovered of the NTZ," Kalland says.