A Wrinkle In Cancer - How Botox Can Help Chemotherapy

While those in the city may be using Botox to clear up skin imperfections and combat the common signs of aging, researchers at Columbia Medical University are out to find another use for the toxin; playing the role of sidekick in cancer-combating treatments.

A toxin derived from the Clostridium botulinum species of bacteria, onabotulinumtoxinA which is commonly referred to as Botox has in recent decades garnered much success in the field of cosmetic surgery. As a non-invasive alternative, Botox is a neurotoxin that in high doses can cause the lethal disease botulism, but in small doses can make wrinkles disappear. By blocking the transfer of acetylcholine, a chemical used in cell to cell communication in the nervous system, Botox inhibits contractions of nerves and effectively weakens muscle movement which is the number one cause to age-related wrinkling of the skin. But in even more recent years, clinicians and researchers alike have looked towards more practical applications of the cosmetic treatment.

Reporting their preliminary results in the journal Science Translational Medicine, a research team from Columbia Medical University, led by lead researcher Dr. Timothy Wang, have found that in animal trials the team was able to successfully destroy cancer cells with chemotherapy once injected Botox disrupted the Vagus nerve. By rendering the Vagus nerve, which connects the brain to the stomach, of the experimental mice useless with the toxin, Wang's team found that tumors traditionally associated with the stomach not only stopped their exponential growth but also were much more responsive to chemotherapy. 
Wang says that although research has not been directly translated to humans just yet, that the results may indicate valuable information about the role of nerves in cancer formation.

"Nerves are very important in the development and formation of many organ systems and likely play a very important role in the early growth and spread of tumors" Wang said. "At least in the early phase,  we found if you [disrupt the nerve], the tumor becomes much more responsive to chemotherapy. So we don't see this as a single cure, but making current and future treatments more effective."

The study results may have concluded high significance to the effect of Botox on the Vagus Nerve, and the treatment of cancer in the mice,  however, interested researchers maintain that the general public should not get their hopes up quite yet.

"It would be inappropriate to pursue this treatment outside of a clinical trial," deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, Dr. Len Lichtenfeld said. "Remember that this is a mouse experiment. These types of experiments have been done for decades, and the actual translation into benefiting patients is uncommon."

In spite of the almost insurmountable difficulties that lie ahead in translating this research into human subjects and implementing the treatment into common practice, Dr. Wang and his research team are hopeful that their results may one day lead to more effective methods of combating cancer in human patients. Now that preliminary results have determined the efficacy of the treatment, Wang will investigate specific biochemical pathways that may lead to inhibiting nerves while treating cancers, but not in a way that will permanently damage the organs they help function.