The public first heard from the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Sayasat Nurbek, that biologist Dos Sarbasov had created a medicine that would be used to treat people with stage four cancer. The media were racing to write that the initial tests of this project had been successful. At a press conference held at Nazarbayev University, the authors of the project told about how the second clinical tests were going.

Who owns the patent for the medicine?

- The method of treating malignant tumors with this medicine resembles a "wooden Trojan horse". Cancer cells are "dependent" on glucose. They get energy for reproduction from glucose. If it were possible to reduce the amount of glucose in the human body, then cancer cells would die "from hunger". But we cannot deprive a person of glucose for this, because there are many negative consequences. We have found a way to destroy cancer cells by alternating the introduction of vitamin C type D (scientific formula – D-CV – ed.) and arsenic trioxide (ATO). Their structure is similar to the structure of glucose. Cancer cells absorb these substances from the blood, because they are similar to glucose. So the injection destroys cancer cells by poisoning them from the inside. That is why I am talking about a “Trojan horse,” says scientist Dos Sarbasov. 

NU specialists introduced us to Dos Sarbasov as a Kazakh-American scientist. Since the specialist, who spent most of his life in science in the United States, conducted the first tests of the drug in the United States on mice. After arriving in Kazakhstan, he repeated these tests at NU to convince his local colleagues.- If you remember, last year we reported the completion of the first clinical trials. At the initial stage, we used the drug against cancer cells in mice and were convinced of its effectiveness. I invented this drug in the USA when I worked at MD Anderson Cancer Center (the leading cancer center in the USA - ed.). In 2018, we received a patent there. Since I now work at Nazarbayev University, I licensed this patent at this educational institution. That is, we have intellectual property, we have an international patent. Now we need to prove the effectiveness of the drug in clinical trials. In 2022-2023, the first money was transferred from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. With these funds, we created a system for the production of vitamin C type D at the Nur-Mai pharmacological plant in Almaty and began clinical trials, - says Dos Sarbasov.

The authors of the project are currently purchasing arsenic oxide, which is administered after the vitamin, in India. If all the tests are successful, they also plan to produce it in Kazakhstan. Because in India, each dose is purchased for $4, while in Kazakhstan, the cost of the drug can be only $1.5. 

- Each clinical trial consists of two phases. In the first phase, the negative impact and toxicity indicators of the drug are tested. We passed this stage in early 2023. That year, we began administering the drug to patients with stage IV malignant tumors. All these patients had malignant tumors of the rectum. In general, when drugs are tested against oncology, they are used only against one type and tested. This is convenient for accurately and quickly determining the effect and effectiveness of the drug. Malignant tumors of the rectum may contain mutated KRAS cells. These regulatory proteins make the tumor even more dangerous. In 95% of pancreatic tumors, in 40% of rectal tumors there are these mutated KRAS cells, - the scientist explains.
At first, the Ministry of Health gave permission only to test vitamin D-CV in very small doses - 0.15 milligrams per kilogram of the patient's body weight.

- No beneficial effect was observed from this dose, because the dose was too small. But the doctors were convinced that the drug was not toxic to the body. In November last year, we received permission to increase the dose, and began administering it in a volume of 0.3 milligrams. Then, in all the treated people, tumor growth stopped. In one person, the tumor even shrank by 30%.It was a very good effect. We were very happy. But this is not the final result we expected. It is important for us now to establish the maximum dose that the human body can tolerate. We received permission to increase the dose of D-CV to 0.65 milligrams. The money needed to conduct the trials was recently received. After that, we will begin another stage of trials. Since July 1, several patients of the Kazakh Research Institute of Oncology and Radiology have been receiving this dose of 0.65 milligrams. At this stage, we are also following the same algorithm. In the first phase, we find out how toxic this dose is. By the beginning of next year, we must be sure that this dose is not dangerous. After that, we will move on to the second phase, that is, we will check how destructive this drug is for mutated KRAS cells. In this way, we will find out the maximum dose that the human body can tolerate and how much it will destroy the metastases that have arisen. If everything goes as we expect, it will take 2-3 years, - says D. Sarbasov. 
About 700 million tenge have been allocated from the budget for the first two years of the project. The money for the remaining three years has not yet been allocated. 

- Type "D" of vitamin "C" is often used as a food supplement. Therefore, I think that the price of the medicine will be affordable for everyone. When the tolerable dose for the human body is determined, we will conduct tests on two groups of 60 people each. After we establish which types of malignant tumors the medicine is most effective against, we will move on to the third stage. Then we will administer the medicine to thousands of people.According to the rules, at the first and second stages of testing, we must work with only one oncology center. At the third stage, we will be able to conduct tests in several centers. This will probably happen in two years, depending on how successfully the work goes, - says the biologist. 
If this formula of the Kazakh scientist successfully passes all tests, it will be a world-class discovery in the field of oncology.

- In general, in oncology, the issue of destroying mutated KRAS cells is considered difficult. Therefore, people who have such a gene in their bodies do not live long. If the effectiveness of our drug is proven in all trials, this will be the solution to the most difficult problem of oncology. During the trials, a person will be given 36 combined injections. He will receive injections for three weeks, then rest for one week. Then they will give injections for another three weeks. On Sundays, the person will rest. In the third stage of clinical trials, patients will return home after receiving injections. In the first and second stages, they will receive injections in the hospital, - says the scientist.

Lewis Cantley's Work

The biologist also acquainted journalists with the work of the laboratory that prepared the injection. During the conversation, the scientist said that he invented this combination after reading the work of biologist Lewis Cantley, who studied metabolism in diabetes.

- When I worked at an oncology center in the USA, I studied what substances kill cancer cells. We deprived them of amino acids, but they tolerated starvation. We deprived them of glucose, and then the cancer cells died within two days. We studied this mechanism. It turned out that when these cells die, they release oxidants. Then I realized that it is possible to kill cancer cells by the direct action of oxidants. This is how the idea of ​​using arsenic oxide arose. But arsenic is one of the poisons. It was impossible to use only it. In 2015, American scientist Lewis Cantley reported that vitamin C can be used to increase stress in KRAS cells.Then I realized that if you administer a combination of arsenic oxide and vitamin C, the effectiveness will be much higher. But we use vitamin C type D, because this type has the lowest toxicity. Therefore, as its dose increases, the effectiveness increases, - says the scientist.

As noted, this drug is currently administered only to patients with malignant tumors of the rectum at stage IV. Scientists from the genomic laboratory will have to study how effective it will be against other types of tumors.

 

Author

Muratbek Makulbekov

kazinform.kz

translated by Qazalem