Why Are Most Chemo Drugs Synthetic Rather Than Biogenic?

Published September 28, 2013

Question by yug_zohoth: Why are most chemo drugs synthetic rather than biogenic?
I’m curious to know why cancer chemotherapy still relies on the usage and further “drug discovery” of synthetic drugs which are injected into the bloodstream and thus affect the entire body. Furthermore, why hasn’t there been more research & development for the use of naturally occurring toxins for directed cancer chemotherapy? Particularly animal derived necrotic venom and fungal toxins, the latter which are primarily metabolic poisons. I do know that there are several mushroom toxins which block protein synthesis and DNA replication which might be useful for aggressive metastatic cancer.

Best answer:

Answer by Panda
There is a plethora of research on targeted therapies, vaccinations, and even ‘natural medicines’ so I do not know what you are talking about.

You can start reviewing the different studies done that have been submitted to the National Library of Medicine:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/

You can thumb through the thousands of abstracts and studies done through ASCO.

http://www.asco.org/ASCOv2/Meetings/Abstracts

You can check research done at the National level:

http://www.cancer.gov/researchandfunding

And you can check with research done at the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
http://nccam.nih.gov/research/

No legitimate study is turned down and if you have a plan than submit an application for a grant and get busy.

You might also take a look at a chemo drug called Yondelis or one by the name of Rapamune . . and find out exactly what they are from . . as well as one of the oldest chemo drugs Vincristine . . before you go making inaccurate assumptions. Incidentally . . chemotherapy is leaning more heavily on ‘targeted therapy’ instead of systemic therapy.

A simple answer to why most chemo drugs are synthetic is because like the drug rapamune . . there is a limited supply available in the natural world since rapamune is found only in one place on the planet.

Story of Rapamune
http://www.sehgal.net/story_of_rapamune.htm

Vincristine – origin from periwinkle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincristine

Targeted cancer therapies
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/targeted

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