Nutritional Supplement for Chemotherapy Sensitization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cancer chemotherapy protocols are often ineffective against recurring or resistant tumors and are associated with significant side effects, with existing methods to enhance chemotherapy effectiveness being either ineffective or difficult to implement safely and selectively.
Innovation Solution
A nutritional supplement containing fish oil and selenium, which can be used alone or in combination with chemotherapeutic agents, to reduce inflammation and enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy by reducing IL-6 expression and sensitizing resistant cancer cells to treatment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If chemotherapy protocols are used to treat cancer, then tumor cells can be killed, but significant side effects occur including nausea, weight loss, hair loss, immunosuppression, and skin irritation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses an anti-sense DNA oligonucleotide as an intermediary substance to suppress TRPM-2 gene activity. This intermediary approach allows enhancement of chemosensitivity without directly administering high doses of chemotherapeutic agents, thereby reducing side effects while improving treatment effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the biochemical parameters within cancer cells by suppressing TRPM-2 gene activity through anti-sense DNA. This parameter change (reducing TRPM-2 expression) sensitizes resistant cancer cells to chemotherapy without requiring changes to the chemotherapy protocol itself, thus maintaining effectiveness while reducing the need for high drug doses
2Object-affected harmful factors
If chemotherapeutic agents are selected to have reduced toxicity, then side effects are reduced, but effectiveness against tumor cells is also reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by suppressing TRPM-2 gene activity before administering chemotherapeutic agents. This pre-sensitization of cancer cells allows the use of lower toxicity agents that can still achieve effective tumor cell killing, as the cells are already primed to be more susceptible to the chemotherapy
Solution Approach 2:
The anti-sense DNA oligonucleotide serves as a mediator that bridges the gap between reduced toxicity and maintained effectiveness. It modifies the cancer cell state to be more responsive to gentler chemotherapeutic agents, allowing reduced toxicity without sacrificing effectiveness
3Reliability
If attempts are made to improve chemosensitivity in resistant cancers using anti-sense DNA, then sensitivity may be enhanced, but the approach requires safe and selective delivery to tumors and may not be effective across different cancer cell types
Solution Approach 1:
The patent targets TRPM-2, a calcium channel present across multiple cancer cell types and chemotherapy resistance mechanisms. By suppressing this universal target, the anti-sense DNA approach achieves broad applicability across different cancer types and chemotherapeutic mechanisms, reducing the need for cancer-specific customization
Solution Approach 2:
The anti-sense DNA oligonucleotide acts as a universal intermediary that can be delivered through existing nucleic acid delivery platforms. This intermediary approach simplifies delivery complexity compared to cancer-specific gene therapies, as the same TRPM-2 suppression mechanism can be applied across different tumor types
Data Source
AI summary
A nutritional supplement that includes fish oil and selenium in the form of selenium yeast in amounts effective to reduce inflammation, in particular inflammation associated with expression of IL-6, is described. Formulations for such a nutritional supplement and its use in treating inflammation are also described.