Varanasi: BHU researchers discover a treatment for cervical cancer

A microRNA that particularly kills cervical cancer cells has been found by a team of researchers at Banaras Hindu University, lead by Samarendra Kumar Singh of the School of Biotechnology, Institute of Science. The results of the study could be used to create a safe microRNA treatment to treat cervical cancer. Singh and his PhD student Garima Singh discovered throughout the investigation that the human microRNA miR-34a could decrease the viral E6 gene, which in turn turned off an oncogenic cell cycle component that only killed cervical malignant cells.

According to Singh, "the finding assumes significance in terms of establishing a safer and more focused therapy in the management of cervical cancer." He also emphasised that during the course of the trial, no worse effect was found on healthy or normal tissue.Chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which are currently the only treatments for cervical cancer, do affect non-cancerous cells as well, which is very dangerous and poisonous. The results of this study have been published in "BMC Cancer," one of the most esteemed journals in the field of cancer, the researcher said, adding that it may help in the development of particular treatments for cervical cancer. Additionally, he asserted that this is the first study to demonstrate how miR-34a controls cell cycle to decrease cancer cells.

He claims that the high-risk human papilloma virus (HR HPV), which inhibits the host cell's numerous tumour suppressors and checkpoint factors, is the cause of 99% of cases of cervical cancer.Numerous other oncogenic factors, such as the crucial cell cycle regulator Cdt2/DTL, which encourages cell proliferation and transformation, are stabilised by the viral proteins as well. "Micro-RNAs have become a key regulator of the cell cycle and a number of other cellular functions. Several malignancies and other disorders have been related to aberrations in micro-RNAs, but little is still understood about how these micro-RNAs control cellular processes, according to Singh. The found micro-RNA, he continued, "destabilises oncogenic proteins restraining the growth of infected cervical cancer cell lines, which as a result helps in restricting cell proliferation, invasion, and migratory capacities of the HPV positive cervical cancer cells."Research on cancer is done by Singh's lab and team, particularly on gastrointestinal and cervical cancers. They employ a range of molecular biology, biochemistry, and structural biology methods to carry out their research. They look into the causes and mechanisms of aberrant cell cycle behaviour in cancer cells. They previously discovered a method to identify cancer by assessing the amount of tumour DNA in the serum of cervical cancer patients, which was published in the renowned cancer journal "JCRT".