Chemotherapy is known for its devastating effects on the human body, from drastic weight and hair loss to extreme frailty, as much as it is known as a cancer treatment. However, UCF graduate student Rebecca Boohaker attempts to offer an alternative treatment through her groundbreaking research, one in which chemotherapy may no longer be required.<\/p>\n
Boohaker, who received her B.S. in biology with a minor in chemistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is currently going for her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences at UCF.<\/p>\n
Drawn to UCF\u2019s tight-knit program, Boohaker said her passion for her work was natural and something potentially beneficial for future generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody knows somebody who has been affected by cancer in some shape or form, so I was drawn to it,\u201d Boohaker said. \u201c[This research] is something I can see \u2026 easily turn into a treatment or a cure, so it seems like the payoff is more imminent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her research involves cell deaths, the process by which cells naturally \u2014 or in this case purposefully induced \u2014 die. Boohaker uses what she refers to as a \u201cpeptide in a nanoparticle, [or] peptide therapy,\u201d where a protein-based solution \u2014 a peptide \u2014 is given to a patient through an IV. Unlike chemo\u2019s aggressive attack strategy, this protein is more subtle in removing cancer cells.<\/p>\n
Boohaker said that, like a clock, every part of a cell has a purpose, and if one part is not working properly, the others will fail to function accordingly. Once injected, this protein attacks cancer cells by making simple changes, what Boohaker refers to as \u201cturning on or off\u201d certain switches in the cell, thereby triggering the cell\u2019s death. Through this death, cancer cells are eliminated, while normal cells are left alone without any noted negative side effects.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though they\u2019re immortal, [cancer cells] still have all the inner workings of a normal cell,\u201d Boohaker said. \u201cThey just may not be active or under-expressed, or even overexpressed. If we can utilize what we know, then we can maybe turn things on when they ordinarily would have been turned off, or not, and that\u2019s [what will] play into cancer therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senior Rachele Mehl, a pre-clinical health major, found Boohaker\u2019s research interesting. Mehl said that if it could really work without any negative side effects, it could become a major scientific breakthrough.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if she can actually get that to work, it\u2019s incredible. That could potentially change how cancer is treated everywhere,\u201d Mehl said. \u201cIf that is the more effective method, people would [go] through a lot less pain with chemo. I know chemo has so many negative side effects; normally chemo targets all the cells, and [so] all the cells end up dying. That\u2019s why people get so weak, and it\u2019s so terrible and hard to do chemo. To target just those cells \u2026 I\u2019d be curious to see if there really are no side effects. You\u2019re still killing a lot of cells in the body, and I wonder how the body would take that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boohaker recently received the Rudy J. Wodzinski Memorial Endowed Scholarship for \u201clearning, creative problem solving and scientific inquiry\u201d through her research. She will also be giving a presentation this Saturday at the American Association for Cancer Research conference in Chicago. During her presentation, Boohaker will be discussing her research, cell death and innovative and alternative cancer treatments.<\/p>\n
Boohaker felt that her research could lead to other financial benefits, both for interested companies and the university.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s the opportunity to patent the drug,\u201d Boohaker said. \u201cIf it is promising, then of course there\u2019s always the hope that some pharmaceutical company that will pick it up and mass-produce it, and the university would benefit from that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boohaker knows that her research still has a long way to go before it can begin to help others, with more trials planned for mice, also known as \u201ccell lines,\u201d as well as tests to determine the best way to deliver the protein to patients. Though she will have finished the program long before this research could be implemented as a standardized medical therapy, she still feels it could become a future cancer treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can use this as a way to bypass normal chemotherapy \u2026 and just use this particular treatment, or we can use this as a way to enhance what already exists so you can have faster, more efficient results in the treatment without damaging your body,\u201d Boohaker said. \u201cThat\u2019s the problem with most chemotherapies, because not only do you get the cancer, but you tear up your body. And from what we\u2019ve seen, it seems we might be able to avoid that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Doctoral candidate’s research can “turn off” malignant cells<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":34445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[17,21],"tags":[488,653,838,979,7043],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-34443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medicine","category-opinions","tag-biology","tag-burnett-school-of-biomedical-sciences","tag-chemistry","tag-college-of-medicine","tag-rebecca-boohaker"],"yoast_head":"\n