Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
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.
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
Canadian immigrants threatened by hostile regimes are urging parliamentarians to quickly pass the 'Countering Foreign Interference Act' so they can feel safe living in their adopted home.
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
Spanish state prosecutors recommended Wednesday that an investigating judge shelve a probe into another alleged case of tax fraud by pop star Shakira.
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An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
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Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.