Transdermal Delivery/Cutaneous Biology Laboratory
Researchers at the Miller School of Medicine have discovered a link between a potent antioxidant that occurs naturally in the body and the ability to kill breast and prostate cancer cells. The antioxidant they studied is Ubiquinone, more commonly referred to as Coenzyme Q10 or CoQ10.
Delivery of the therapy could soon be as simple as applying an ointment to the tumor site. CoQ10 is one of the most important antioxidants found in the body, and is used by cells not only to protect against free radical damage, but also to produce ATP, a compound that powers every cell in the human body. In laboratory and animal studies, University of Miami researchers found that by delivering CoQ10 to cancer cells and tissues, the molecule induced apoptosis,
which is the normal programmed cell death that goes awry in the disease process. The scientists were able to restore a cancer cell’s ability to kill itself, while not impacting normal cells.
S.L. Hsia, Ph.D., director of the Transdermal Delivery Laboratory at the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery and principal investigator of the research, says, “It is amazing that a benign compound, CoQ10, can cause cancer cells to selectively kill themselves without harm to normal cells. My research team, including Indushekhar Persaud and Niven Narin, looks forward to one day bringing the benefit and hope of this technology to many cancer patients.”
