{"id":258817,"date":"2025-09-27T13:23:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T13:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/258817\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T13:23:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T13:23:13","slug":"this-badass-creature-has-the-power-to-kill-brain-tumors-and-scientists-found-a-way-to-use-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/258817\/","title":{"rendered":"This Badass Creature Has the Power to Kill Brain Tumors\u2014and Scientists Found a Way to Use It"},"content":{"rendered":"

Time and again,<\/strong> the adrenaline-inducing show Fear Factor brought out scorpions to scare contestants. As the arachnids crept toward the thrill seekers with stingers raised, even the audience\u2019s hearts raced. Inevitably, contestants on this early aughts reality competition series would come out unscathed, but scorpions\u2014along with other creepy-crawlies like centipedes and spiders<\/a>\u2014would leave with a tarnished reputation.<\/p>\n

But that could soon change. A team of researchers from City of Hope, a network of cancer research centers based in major cities across the United States, is reframing these misconceptions about scorpions and proving that they\u2019re actually quite useful to us. In fact, a few years ago, a team of scientists there published a paper<\/a> in the journal Science Translational Medicine outlining a new treatment method for cancerous<\/a> brain tumors.<\/p>\n

The researchers used deathstalker scorpions, a species native to the arid regions of North Africa and the Middle East. They used a genetically engineered<\/a> component of the scorpion\u2019s venom called chlorotoxin, to recognize tumor cells, particularly of glioblastoma, the most common type of brain tumor and one of the most deadly human cancers. Glioblastoma are difficult to treat because the tumors are often dispersed throughout the brain. In theory, the new treatment should be the perfect solution for these hidden killers, as the chlorotoxin will act as a radar, telling your T cells\u2014or your body\u2019s natural defense system\u2014where to attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch like a scorpion uses toxin components of its venom to target and kill its prey, we\u2019re using chlorotoxin to direct the T cells to target the tumor cells,\u201d Michael Barish, PhD, chair of the Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology at City of Hope, says in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Contrary to popular belief, venom and poison aren\u2019t the same, though the terms are often used interchangeably. Both substances are toxic and can hurt you, but their main difference lies in how they make their way into your body in the first place. Poisons are absorbed through the skin, digestion, or inhalation\u2014think poison ivy or those colorful dart frogs. Venom, on the other hand, must enter the bloodstream through a wound, often inflicted through a bite or a sting. The toxins in venom allow animals to disable prey, but those same toxins are great at regulating complex processes in the human body, making them invaluable in modern therapeutic treatments.<\/p>\n

While the new treatment may seem revolutionary, this is by no means the first time humans have used animal toxins for medicinal purposes<\/a>. In ancient Rome, healers often used snake venom as a treatment for small pox, leprosy, fever, and wounds. There have even been some reports of rattlesnake bites stopping seizures in individuals with epilepsy, and we, of course, still use venom to develop antivenom today.<\/p>\n

The chlorotoxin treatment is just one example of chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T cell) therapy, a type of immunotherapy that uses cells from the body to fight cancer. Immunotherapy differs from other treatments methods because it doesn\u2019t target the cancer directly, but instead makes the immune system more effective. On the other hand, treatments like chemotherapy use drugs that are toxic to cells in order to halt their rapid division. According to experts<\/a>, immunotherapy and chemotherapy both have their pros and cons. Immunotherapy is better at targeting cancer cells, but is slower, and success varies. Meanwhile, chemotherapy is much more aggressive and can quickly shrink tumors, but it also kills healthy cells.<\/p>\n

City of Hope\u2019s research on CAR-T cell therapy has been ongoing, and results of the team\u2019s most recent study<\/a>, published in August in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, seems promising. The study reports findings from phase one of clinical trials using chlorotoxin. The researchers found that the treatment is \u201cwell tolerated\u201d among patients. Three out of four participants (75 percent) achieved stable disease\u2014meaning their tumors were temporarily neither growing nor shrinking\u2014after receiving three rounds of treatment. Sadly, all four patients eventually died from disease progression, with three individuals surviving for less than six months and one for more than 20 months after the preparatory surgery, which is one of the first steps of the trial treatment.<\/p>\n

Given the small sample size, the authors note that they can\u2019t draw any large conclusions, but they are optimistic about the future use of chlorotoxin CAR-T cell therapy. According to the team, their findings motivate more research on the efficacy of the treatment, and they are currently exploring options to make the solution more potent, which will hopefully lead to more noticeable improvements.<\/p>\n

Whether it be hundreds of years ago or in modern research, venom seems to have always shown some sort of promise\u2014and maybe future clinical trials will prove that it really does hold the secret to winning the ongoing battle against cancer.<\/p>\n

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