Bio-normalyzer (R): An anti-cancer drug for neuroblastoma?

Iron is an essential micronutrient required for cell division and growth. I ncorporation of iron into cells is achieved by endocytosis of transferrin. Then, iron may be stored in ferritin and hemosiderin. Increased intracellul ar iron concentrations may promote malignant cell growth. Patients with adv anced-stage neuroblastoma (NB) show abnormally high levels of serum ferriti n, very likely synthesized and secreted by the tumor in vivo and consistent with a frequent accumulation of iron in ferritin in NB tumor tissues. In a previous study, we showed that there is no iron accumulation in cultured n euroblasts, and intracellular iron concentrations proved to be especially l ow. Bio-Normalizer (R) (BioN) is a nutritional supplement sold to be an ant i-oxidant and metal-chelator. In the present study, we tested cell viabilit y and measured iron concentrations in neuroblasts treated or not with BioN. We found that BioN, probably thanks to papain, presents an anti-proliferat ive effect on NB cultured cells. Besides, preliminary results tend to prove that this natural anti-oxidant and iron-chelator could present interesting effects on trace metal concentrations in neuroblasts. Such a compound may be useful in treatment of this pathology. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. Al l rights reserved.