Qatar University (QU) marked World Cancer Day yesterday, to raise awareness about the disease and encourage its prevention, detection and treatment. This year World Cancer Day is marked under the theme “I can, we can”, which acknowledges that everyone has the capacity to address the cancer burden.
Several faculty members shared their sentiments on the occasion. Serhiy Souchelnytskyi, Professor of Molecular/Cell Biology at College of Medicine QU said: “For successful treatment, early detection and selection of drugs are essential. We develop tests for improved diagnostic and identification of drugs that would be most helpful for a given patient. The application of our tests confirm their clinical value and proves that good science works in clinics. Our cancer research attracted interest for application not only on the Earth but also for the space missions to the Moon and Mars.”
“The deregulated genes in colorectal cancer vary significantly from study to study. We used a systems biology approach to identify the co-deregulated genes (co-DEGs) among a large number of studies, explore their molecular networks, and spot the major hub proteins within them. We also identified a list of repurposing drugs, including camptothecin, and neostigmine bromide, that could be used for targeting these co-DEGs. Overall, we highlight the critical genes associated with colorectal cancer and propose repurposing drugs against them” said, Dr Apostolos Zaravinos, Associate Professor of Genetics at College of Medicine QU.
Ala-Eddin al-Moustafa, Professor of Molecular/Cell Biology at College of Medicine QU said that “Today, it is well known that high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are the major cause of cervical cancer; however, their role in human breast cancer is not evident. Thus, in our lab we explored the presence and role of these on co-viruses in human breast cancer; we found that high-risk HPVs are present in around 50% of human breast cancer samples from different countries including Qatar, Lebanon, Syria, and Canada; and their presence is associated with high-grade tumour phenotype.
Thus, our studies suggest that HPVs vaccines can be used to prevent the development and/or progression of certain types of human breast cancers. The triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtype, which lacks the expression of estrogen, progesterone and ErbB2/HER2 receptors, is very aggressive with limited and inefficient therapy options. Thus, our group from the Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine developed a new chalcone-based drug against this subtype of cancer, which was recently patented in the US under the number 16/440,861 and published in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Our lab work has generated a large number of publications in international journals.”
Zumin Shi, Professor of Human Nutrition, College of Health Science, said that Qatar has a high burden of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) including diabetes and cancer. Unhealthy dietary habit (e.g. consumption of high energy-dense food and soft drink) is an important risk factor for NCDs. Based on data from Qatar Biobank Study, we found that people with diabetes took medicine including insulin to control blood glucose but ate more unhealthy food. This bad practice put them at risk for cancer. Promoting healthy eating should be encouraged.
Dr Hesham M Korashy, Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, QU, said the college has made significant contribution to cancer research at the national, regional and international levels.
Scientists and professors at the College of Pharmacy conduct high-quality applied research aiming to a) better understand the molecular mechanisms of cancer initiation and progression particularly the role of cancer stem cells, b) design and synthesise specific and efficient drug delivery systems, c) discover novel natural anticancer drugs, and c) improve cancer-related health outcomes and the economic burden on the government.
Several faculty members of Qatar University shared their sentiments on the occasion.
