Within the weekly scientific activities provided by the Staff-Member Development Unit at the College of Pharmacy Dr. Afnan Saleh Batobara, Staff Member at the College, gave a lecture titled, “The Study of the Distribution of Anti-Cancer Drugs in Solid Tumors via MALDI-MS.”  

The DMXAA is one of the Flavonoids and has an anti-vascular effect in tumors. In other words, it kills cells lining the blood vessels and activates Cytokines.

In this context, vascular disruptors have been used to treat many types of cancer.

Within the study, the (MALDI-MSI) has been used in order to examine the response of colorectal cancer tumors after treatment with DMXAA.

The study also included the distribution of DMXAA anti-cancer drugs within cancerous tissues, in addition to the exploration of the signs of effective treatment in these tissues.

Dr. Batobara pointed out that MALDI-MSI results indicated the main distribution of the drug in the center of the tumor, after four hours of treatment. On the other hand, the drug was distributed around the perimeter of the tumor, after twenty-four hours of treatment.

The study of lipids in treated tumors also showed increased production of (SM) and (PC) lipids in the cancerous tissues that were treated with DMXAA. Moreover, MALDI-MS was used in order to distinguish the response of proteins in tumors after treatment with DMXAA. In addition, a significant increase in the level of hemoglobin in the tumor was observed after 24 hours of treatment.   

Within the same study, data showed that the levels of some proteins changed at a different time point in the tumor after treatment with DMXAA.   

Afterwards, Dr. Batobara answered the questions of staff members about such type of recent studies, which played a significant role in the treatment of cancer tumors.