JERUSALEM, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Israeli researchers have developed a chemotherapy drug to treat cancer that do not cause serious side effects, the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) in central Israel reported on Sunday.
In a study, published in the journal Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, the WIS scientists developed a drug that acts like an invisible ink.
These are "sleeper" molecules that circulate undetected in the bloodstream until a natural chemical process in the body activates them.
Such covert drugs might remain viable in the bloodstream for longer than usual, and they could maintain a measured level of activity that would minimize side effects, while keep levels high enough to be effective in treating the disease.
The group created such a covert version of the chemotherapy drug Bleomycin, used to treat a variety of cancers including Hodgkin's lymphoma, and ovarian and cervical cancers.
Bleomycin is known, among other things, to cause scar tissue to form in the lungs, leading to dangerous pulmonary fibrosis.
"The uniqueness of the new technique is the slow-acting, spontaneous chemical reaction", the researchers concluded.
