The team of Columbia’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center focused on stomach cancer trying to limit or stop the nerves signals. They used vagotomy to cut the nerves with significant results. The importance of nerves in tumour growth was confirmed. Finally they discovered that injecting Botox into mice, the drug proved to be as effective as surgery at reducing stomach cancer growth. The effect is based on the blockage of the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which is also involved in cell division.
Another important information is that blocking nerves makes cancer cells more vulnerable to chemical therapy. The survival rate increased by 35 percent for the persons chemically treated in addition with the use of Botox to stop the neurotransmission. This is even a big hope to help patients with cancer in a short time.Botulinum toxin (Botox) is a protein and neurotoxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is the most acutely lethal toxin known but one form of botulinum toxin type B are available commercially for medical procedures.
