Rattlesnake venom may help treat cancer, study says

Crotoxin, one of the toxins present in rattlesnake venom, can help treat cancer. This is what researchers from the Butantan Institute stated in a study published in March.

The use of the substance in mice with the disease showed changes in the animals’ immune system.

The results indicated a “reeducation” immunological, according to research. Thus, the use of venom shows a future path for immunotherapy. Read the full research (PDF – 3 MB, in English).

Immunotherapy treatment against cancer is carried out using substances that activate the patient’s immune system. In this case, the immune system is induced so that the cells fight the disease with less toxicity.

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The research used the toxin in 2 groups of mice for 13 days. The first of them received cells from a liquid tumor in the abdominal region and the other was composed of healthy animals.

All of them, the research reported, used crotoxin, a dose of toxin and a saline solution. Some with larger doses than others.

The sick group that received the lowest dose of toxin had a prevalence of 60% of adequate defense cells to inhibit the development of tumors. The same group managed to reduce tumor volume by 27%. These also showed an increase in the production of nitric oxide, a free radical that penetrates the tumor cell and destroys it.

“This is one of the things that we have also been observing in other radars, showing that a small dose of crotoxin is enough for this modulation of macrophages [células de defesa do organismo]“said Camila Lima Neves, 1st author of the work.

Now, researchers at the Butantan Institute are studying structural combinations of crotoxin to find a less toxic and more effective one.

“It is possible that other structures of the crotoxin molecule can perform the same action or enhance its effect”said the study coordinator, Sandra Coccuzo Sampaio.