More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
An experimental cancer drug made from a molecule found in a Himalayan fungus known as “caterpillar fungus” has shown early promise as a new treatment for patients with advanced tumours in a small clinical trial.
The new chemotherapy variety, known as NUC-7738 by researchers at the University of Oxford, is made from cordycepin, first found in a parasitic fungus species called Ophiocordyceps sinensis.
Commonly known as “caterpillar fungus,” thanks to its ability to kill and mummify moth larva in the wild, the active ingredient has been used as a herbal remedy in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries.
Now, researchers at the University of Oxford, in partnership with U.K.-based biopharmaceutical company NuCana, are testing the proposed anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects of the compound in a small phase one trial involving 28 patients with advanced tumours that were resistant to conventional cancer treatment.
Cordycepin, referred as 3'-deoxyadenosine (or 3'-dA), is a naturally occurring nucleoside analogue. These analogues can be used in therapeutic drugs, including antiviral products used to prevent viral replication in infected cells.
Because the naturally occurring form of cordycepin breaks down quickly in the bloodstream, researchers altered the compound to make it resistant to this process, allowing it to enter cells independently.
The latest research shows that these changes make the proposed drug’s anti-cancer properties up to 40 times more potent than cordycepin alone.
According to trial findings published in early September, the patient cohort showed “encouraging signals of anti-tumour activity and prolonged disease stabilization" when given weekly escalating doses of NUC-7738.
"These findings provide proof of concept that NUC-7738 overcomes the cancer resistance mechanisms that limit the activity of 3'-dA and support the further clinical evaluation of NUC-7738 as a novel cancer treatment,” the researchers reported in their paper.
Once the safety of the drug has been demonstrated in Phase 1 of the trial, the researchers will begin planning for Phase 2.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”