According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world being responsible for about 9.6 million deaths in 2018 alone. Several studies have been conducted to find therapeutic alternatives (and even a cure) for this disease.
And now, a new hope emerges: as part of joint research, scientists from the Butantan Institute and the Albert Einstein Israeli Beneficent Society have discovered a molecule in the venom of the Vitalius wacketi spider that has the potential to treat cancer. The arachnid lives on the coast of the State of São Paulo (Brazil).
How is spider venom promising in cancer treatment?
The molecule in question (a polyamine) is extracted from the venom of the crab spider Vitalius wacketi which belongs to the same family as tarantulas, Theraphosidae. These molecules have been isolated, purified, and synthesized, giving rise to this promising compound.
The substance was synthesized in the Butantan laboratory and purified by Einstein (removing all contaminants and enhancing its effect). It was able to eliminate leukemia cells, a tumor that affects certain blood cells in in vitro tests, as well as leukemia cells resistant to chemotherapy.
The molecule found in the venom of the Brazilian spider Vitalius wacketi offers hope for cancer treatment, as it was able to eliminate leukemia cells in vitro tests.
This substance has several positive aspects. The difference is that it was able to kill tumor cells by apoptosis (programmed cell death) and not by necrosis, meaning the cell self-destructs in a controlled manner without causing inflammatory reactions.. And this is an advantage because, generally, more traditional oncological treatments cause necrosis.
“Necrotic cell death is an unprogrammed death in which the cell collapses, leading to significant inflammatory conditions. In apoptosis, the tumor cell signals to the immune system that it is dying, so that it can then eliminate the cellular fragments,” explained Thomaz Rocha e Silva, a researcher at Einstein.
One of the advantages of this substance is that, due to its low molecular weight, there is no immunogenicity issue – when a foreign substance in the body triggers an immune response,” said Pedro Ismael da Silva Junior, a scientist at the Butantan Applied Toxicology Laboratory.
In addition, another advantage is that the new molecule is small and the synthesis process is much simpler and cheaper than other available molecules, which can facilitate access to the product.
Next steps
The molecule was obtained through an innovative production process, the result of many years of studies and due to its great potential, it has been patented by institutions. The idea is to license this technology to a company that has the capacity to produce the substance on a large scale and develop animal tests – and, in the future, on humans, if it proves to be safe and effective. Now, institutions are seeking partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry to secure the necessary investments to move forward.
“We have already identified potential interested parties and are in contact with some companies. This could speed up the study to become a product and reach patients more quickly,” said Butantan’s Director of Innovation, Cristiano Gonçalves.
According to scientists, this discovery is already mature enough to move on to new stages of development. In the next steps, they will test on lung and bone cancer cells. Furthermore, the technology will be studied on healthy human cells to confirm that it is not toxic, i.e., if it is selective and only damages cancer cells.
News reference:
Butantan Portal. “As part of joint research, Butantan and Einstein discover a substance in spider venom with potential against cancer cells“, 2024.
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