Cancer is the general name for a group of more than 100 diseases. Although there are many kinds of cancer, all cancers start because abnormal cells grow out of control. According to the GLOBOCAN 2012 of the WHO, there were 14.1 million new cancer cases, 8.2 million cancer deaths and 32.6 million people living with cancer (within 5 years of diagnosis) in 2012 worldwide. This Cancer rates are increasing globally and the causes explained as of now include mutation, pollution, lifestyle factors etc. Even-though there are various modalities of treatments available at present, several grey areas do exist which leaves a promise for the new molecules research. Many plants are known to have reported for their anti-cancer activity & many more awaits discovery. Understanding the mechanism of action of natural compounds will provide useful information on their application in cancer therapy and also in cancer prevention. We aim to develop effective compounds or fractions from rare or threatened medicinal plants before their extinction. One of such projects are supported with funds by the Science & Engineering research Board, DST. We are planning to screen anticancer agents from marine sources as well.
Early detection of cancer greatly increases the chances for successful treatment. Breast cancer being the most common cancer in women worldwide, MIMS RF has started a modest beginning utilizing the knowledge that estrogen action has a significant role in breast cancer development. The correlation if any between the diagnostic stages of the breast cancer and the presence of estrogen receptor activation factors is being looked into.
The often asked question is “Why are cancer cells immortal?”. Huge amount of knowledge is available on this subject , but still there are tenantless spaces and MIMS RF has decided that this is one road that must be traveled along. Telomerase based studies in this direction are in progress.