In a lab at the University of Saskatchewan, the search is on for a drug that will eliminate a protein found in cancer cells, and ultimately kill the cancer due to lack of iron.

Oleg Dmitriev, a professor at USask, says there is a protein that appears at high levels in cancer cells which regulates iron within them. Cancer cells require this protein, called MEMO1, in order to invade healthy tissue, so the team is currently screening for a drug that will target and eliminate the protein.

Dmitriev says iron is vital to all living things, however it has a ‘dark side’.

“If it is not properly regulated, it catalyzes production of highly reactive forms of oxygen,” he explains. This means iron within the cell has to be very tightly regulated, or else the cell is damaged. This is the job of MEMO1.

“The question is ‘if we disrupt that regulation in the cancer cell, can we use this property of iron to cause this intercellular damage to selectively kill cancer cells.”

He says disrupting the iron equilibrium inside the cancer cells would be possible with a drug that targets MEMO1, which he and his team are screening through a list of 2000 existing drugs to find.

“Because we are looking for the drugs that are selective for the cancer cells that produce MEMO1 at high levels, we may be able to use those drugs at lower doses.”

This would mean This would mean the drugs would still be effective but generate less side effects compared to other forms of chemotherapy.

Dmitriev says it could be years before a treatment comes to market, but he is excited to have made this breakthrough.