Survivin, a molecule highly expressed in malignant tumor cells and even some chronic autoimmune disorders, is known for promoting tumor cell growth.

Researchers at Columbus Children’s Research Institute ( CCRI ) on the campus of Columbus Children’s Hospital have developed a selective biological target that interferes with the expression of survivin, causing a reduction in tumor growth.

Further, the preliminary research also showed this molecule has no adverse effects on normal cells, suggesting this type of treatment could mean fewer side effects for people suffering from cancer.

The findings were published in the Journal of Medical Genetics.

“ We used small interfering RNA molecules ( siRNA ) to essentially seek out and destroy only the survivin, a molecule we know mainly functions to ‘feed’ the tumor cells,” said Rachel Altura, at CCRI and at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health. “ When injected directly into the tumor, or intravenously, the siRNAs interfered with survivin’s function and thus, we saw a 70 percent reduction of the tumor growth in our study.”

Though survivin is expressed in many forms of cancer from ovarian to leukemia, to test the survivin-targeted therapies in tumors, Altura’s group looked at rhabdomyosarcoma, a particularly aggressive form of muscle cancer that would quickly show results of their work.

Specifically, 63 rhabdomyosarcoma tumor samples were aligned on slides to identify those tumors expressing survivin.
Of those samples, more than 80 percent expressed survivin.

Next, red fluorescent clones of the human rhabdomyosarcoma cells were replicated in an animal model and then treated with an injection of survivin-siRNA-encoding plasmids.
The 70 percent reduction in the tumor growth was seen over two weeks.

Source: Columbus Children's Hospital, 2005


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