Scientists at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have created a drug to treat nasopharyngeal cancer that causes cancer cells to self-destruct.
The university’s media office indicated, according to the Russia Today website, that nasopharyngeal cancer, according to scientists, is a type of cancer closely related to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. He continued: “Scientists from the Faculty of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong studied the potential of the Epstein-Barr virus as a therapeutic target and succeeded in creating a drug based on mRNA (messenger RNA) that targets cancer cells in the nasopharynx that carry the virus.”
It is noteworthy that university scientists, in cooperation with the Jackson Laboratory in the United States, created this drug, which they called a “suicide mechanism” to destroy cancer cells in the nasopharynx.
According to the university, testing the drug on mice showed “promising results,” indicating that it could be used to treat other types of cancers associated with the Epstein-Barr virus.
