Thanks to distributed computing, a scientific breakthrough in the treatment of childhood cancer has been accomplished.

About distributed computing

It was strange for me to find out that Hiktaimes and Habré almost don’t write about such an IT field as distributed scientific computing (Volunteer computing, a kind of HTC - High-throughput computing). It would seem that the "ideal" hobby for IT-geek (combining real benefits, interesting activities and charity at the same time). For example, I personally have a strong interest in them for the last 5 years (and first participated about 12 years ago). But even the hub did not find the corresponding one (maybe I looked badly?).

I will try to close this gap. I will begin with the translation of one of the articles, which, in my opinion, describes one of the most serious / significant achievements of a practical (and not purely theoretical) plan from medical RV projects. The absence of which many complain and lose interest in RV as a whole. This is probably one of the main reasons for the low popularity of RVs on Hiktaimes (perhaps many at one time looking for "green men" at SETI @ Home were disappointed in the idea as a whole but not carrying any good?).

So, specifically pleased with the project Help Fight Childhood Cancer (literally: help in the fight against childhood cancer), which is part of the IBM World Community Grid initiative: thanks to the computational capacity in cancer treatment made by Crowd Computing? (specifically one of its varieties, common in children - neuroblastoma). Then I give the floor to Dr. Akira Nakagavara (MD, President of the Chiba Cancer Center). In brackets (note :) are the notes of the translator, i.e. my.

New Hope in the fight against childhood cancer

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Currently, thanks to the successes of modern medicine, about 80% of children diagnosed with cancer are successfully cured. But the prognosis is far from being so good when it comes to neuroblastoma, the most common form of cancer in infancy.

Neuroblastoma is a tumor of peripheral nerve tissue that often begins to develop in the adrenal glands and the sympathetic nervous system of the neck, chest, or abdomen. This disease is very common. According to observations, in the United States and Japan 1 case per 8,000 children.

More than half of the detected cases of this disease belong to a high-risk group, in which recovery is possible only for 30% of children. And these figures have hardly improved over the past 20 years. So the development of new drugs / treatment methods for this dangerous disease is urgently needed.

Our research team at the Chiba Cancer Center (Japan) worked on the development of new drugs to treat neuroblastoma. With the help of volunteers participating in the World Community Grid distributed computing project, we opened 7 promising candidates for use as new drugs that could potentially be used in new methods of treating children's cancer - neuroblastoma. These drug candidates work on the principle of selectively activating the natural “self-destruction” mechanism only in cancer cells of a neuroblastoma, killing them without affecting normal healthy cells.

Neuroblastoma cells have a receptor on their surface, termed TrkB. When a molecule ( note: only the correct 3d configuration) joins this receptor and thereby blocks its operation, the natural gene that inhibits the growth of p53 tumors is activated inside the cell, causing the neuroblastoma cells to self-destruct from the inside in a process called “apoptosis”. Apoptosis is one of the natural processes that take place in the body, one of the main goals of which is to destroy (self-destruct) damaged or mutated cells before they form a tumor. However, the work of the TrkB receptor in neuroblastoma cells inhibits (blocks) this natural protective function of the body. Similar processes involving TrkB occur in many “adult” cancers, including breast, lung, pancreas, prostate and intestinal cancers, when they enter the metastasis stage (that is, they begin to spread throughout the body beyond the original tumor site). This means that these latest discoveries will probably come in handy in the treatment of “adult” cancers as well, to fight against metastasis.

Our strategy was to search for small molecules ( note: this is how relatively simple chemical compounds are usually called to distinguish them from the most complex biological molecules, such as enzymes, peptide hormones, and other proteins) that bound and suppressed the functioning of the TrkB receptors on cancer cells. The account of the known chemical compounds that can potentially be used in medicine now goes to millions, so it is impossible to synthesize them all in a row and test them in practice in the laboratory. Instead, in partnership with World Community Grid, we launched a project called Help Fight Childhood Cancer, which used large-scale computer modeling to conduct such a search. In total, the project was attended by over 200,000 people who donated the computing power of their computers for the necessary calculations. Using this enormous computing power, we screened 3 million chemical compounds in just 2 years - which would take about 55,000 years of continuous operation on a single computer ( note: this is a total clean processor simulation time), and allowed us to identify 7 candidate substances in medication for more study.

After additional laboratory testing, we found ( note: the result was already confirmed in practical experiments!) That these 7 candidates are very effective in destroying neuroblastoma tumors in experimental mice - even in very small dosages and without serious side effects. These results were published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Cancer Medicine in January 2014.

Based on these very encouraging studies, we are currently looking for a partner among pharmaceutical companies to work together on testing and certification as a medicine.

This research breakthrough was made possible thanks to the support of thousands of volunteers from all over the world who provided computing power through the World Community Grid distributed computing project. On behalf of our research team, I would like to thank from the very heart of all World Community Grid volunteers who participated.

Akira Nakagawara (MD, President of the Chiba Cancer Center, Japan)

The end of the translation.

The original press release from which the translation was made is available at: New hope
Those who wish to get acquainted with the study in more detail can use the link to the full scientific article published in the journal targeting TrkB to induce apoptosis in neuroblastoma

Related Links

ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroblastoma (read more in English en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroblastoma )
ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/P53
ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apoptosis
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropomyosin_receptor_kinase_B (target receptor - in the TrkB article)
World Community Grid - for those who want to quickly join and participate in person (this particular project described in the search for drugs for neuroblastoma has already been completed, but there are other active projects)

Conclusion

Despite the fact that the results described were obtained about a year ago, the finished medication is still far from sale. In the West, the path from a scientific result confirming the effect to a drug in free sale takes from 2-3 years at best, and up to 5-7 years in complex ones. And in the case of the results of open RV calculations, this is further complicated by the weak interest / motivation of pharmaceutical companies. Due to the fact that the study was non-profit (the laboratory works for government grants, RV network - voluntary donations of volunteers), such medicine cannot be patented and “skimmed”. More precisely, the drug (brand) can be patented, but the main active ingredient and the scheme of its use are not. So any other company will be able to produce cheap analogues (under its own names and brands), without at the same time bringing a large initial cost of bringing a new drug to the market as the first.

At the end of the publication I would like to arrange a survey. First, the level of interest in the subject as a whole (who is not interested, but still read to the end - choose the last option). Even if such results do not arouse interest, it will become clear that it does not make sense to write further on this topic. And if there is community interest, then gradually I will write a small series of articles and translations about RV. For those who are interested in subjects, respectively, the question of what is first of all worth writing the next time?

- More about this particular study? (I can make a brief "squeeze" of a scientific article with additional details and tell you what's new for the past year.)
- More on examples of concrete successes from other RV projects?
- How to start in person in one of these to participate and join the "race"?
- General overview of the most interesting of the current RV projects?
- Review of the "sports" component of the RV (measurement with PCs using computing powers, organizing into teams, racing for "speed" and "endurance", competitions).
- Do not write about it (I'm not interested).