Argyrin: natural substance raises hope for new cancer therapies

Scientists at HZI, MHH and LUH publish previously-unknown chemical mechanism.

The effective treatment of many forms of cancer continues to pose a major problem for medicine. Many tumours fail to respond to standard forms of chemotherapy or become resistant to the medication. Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, the Hannover Medical School (MHH) and Leibniz-Universität (LUH) in Hanover have now discovered a chemical mechanism with which a natural substance - argyrin - destroys tumours. Today, the researchers publish their findings in the renowned scientific journal "CancerCell".

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres