2.1 Online Survey
Introduction
To gauge the public’s knowledge of tumors and related medical information, their preferences for treatment
methods, and their views on current cancer therapies, we conducted an online survey. This survey will examine
aspects such as awareness of tumors and cancer, sources of medical information, treatment preferences,
perceived shortcomings of current treatments, and understanding of targeted prebiotic tumor therapies.
Among the 272 participants completing this survey, 58.82% were female and 41.18% were male. The sample shows a
slightly higher proportion of females than males. The age distribution of participants is as follows: 41.18%
are 18 years old or younger, 32.72% are between 19 and 35 years old, 23.16% are between 36 and 59 years old,
and only 2.94% are 60 years old or older. Overall, more than 73% of the participants are under 35 years old.
Results
Regarding the public’s understanding of tumors, we used a seven-point Likert scale for self-evaluation, with
scores ranging from 1 to 7. We also included a basic question, "Is a tumor the same as cancer?" to further
test respondents' general knowledge. The average familiarity score with tumors among the public is 3.14, with
most respondents selecting levels between 1 and 2. Additionally, 26.1% of respondents considered that tumor is
equivalent to cancer, which is incorrect. Therefore, it is crucial to provide basic education on tumors.
To understand the sources from which participants typically obtain medical knowledge about tumors, we designed
a multiple-choice question. According to the graph, the primary source of information is social media, used by
73.53% of participants. TV science programs are the second most common source, used by 54.41%. Information
from doctors and community lectures account for 37.5% and 17.65% respectively. Overall, social media and TV
science programs are significant sources of medical knowledge for the public.
To determine the most widely accepted methods for treating tumors, we asked participants to rank different
treatment options from 1 to 5. The results show that surgical treatment ranks highest, with an average score
of 2.88 based on 217 valid responses. Targeted therapy and radiation therapy are tied for second place, with
an average score of 2.75 based on 209 valid responses. Immunotherapy ranks third with an average score of
2.38, based on 202 valid responses. Chemotherapy ranks last with an average score of 1.79 based on 191 valid
responses. Overall, respondents consider surgical treatment the best option for tumor treatment.
To identify the shortcomings of current tumor treatment, a multiple choice question was designed. According to
the data, the percentage of valid responses for each question was: risk of surgery (62.5%), risk of tumor
recurrence (82.72%), side effects during treatment (75.74%), high treatment costs (77.21%), and other reasons
(3.68%). The most important problem was the risk of tumor recurrence, followed by the high cost of treatment
and side effects during treatment.
To understand the main factors affecting the choice of tumor treatment, we used a 7-point Likert scale for
ranking. Based on the matrix scale data, we came to the following conclusions:
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67.62% of participants ranked treatment effectiveness in the first place, indicating that treatment
effectiveness is the most important factor in tumor treatment.
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Treatment side effects ranked second, with a score of 3.68, and 40.95% of participants ranked them second,
showing a high level of concern.
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Treatment cost ranked third with a score of 3.56, and 27.12% of participants ranked it first, indicating
that cost is also an important consideration.
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Treatment duration ranked fourth with a score of 2.79, 35.38% of participants ranked treatment duration
third.
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Treatment environment ranked 5th with a score of 2.2, 45.18% of the participants ranked it fifth indicating
that it is an important factor for some.
To measure the acceptance and feasibility of targeted probiotic oncology treatments and nontraditional
treatments, we assessed them using a 7-point Likert scale. The mean score for the feasibility of targeted
probiotic tumor therapy was 3.93. This suggests that while most people had never heard of these new treatments
and considered them relatively novel, leading some to express skepticism, more than half of the participants
showed positive acceptance of these innovative therapies.
Reflection
The results provided valuable insights into public attitudes and knowledge about cancer treatment, informing
future education and directing our project improvement.
1. Market Promotion: The public has a generally low level of understanding of tumors and prefers to
obtain medical knowledge through social media and other channels. We should focus on educating the public
about tumors and malignancies through social media platforms, blogs, and community outreach, aiming to improve
basic understanding and reduce fear and apprehension about these diseases.
2. Market Positioning: People tend to favor surgical treatments, targeted therapies, and
immunotherapies, with surgical treatments being considered the best option. However, concerns about the risks
of surgery, recurrence, and the financial and physical burden of treatment are important issues for many
people. There is a need for new treatments that minimize side effects and reduce patient pain and emotional
stress. There is a huge market potential for new and innovative treatments.
3. Product demand: Among the factors influencing treatment choice, participants considered treatment
efficacy to be the most important, followed by side effects and cost. Therefore, new targeted drugs with good
therapeutic efficacy, low side effects and reasonable price should be prioritized in product development.
4. Project broadcasting: Since most people are unfamiliar with new therapies of targeting probiotic
oncology treatments, we should emphasize the need for increased outreach and clearer presentation of our
product by uploading videos on social media also giving lectures in communities and schools, sharing this new
production and the solution using probiotics to benefit everyone in need.
2.2 Product Survey
Event Background
We visited the Beijing Science Center, which has many rooms showing different things. We were focusing on the
room that shows biology. The purpose of this trip is to learn more about cells, and cancers and interview some
strangers. We wanted to find out what people think about our project, the traditional treatment of tumors, how
to prevent the formation of tumors, and if they have any suggestions for us.
Event Process
We first designed a poster, including four questions and four choices for each question. All of these four
choices are correct, so we are just asking which one they prefer the most. The four questions and choices
were:
1. What do you think can be done to prevent cancer or tumors? A. Regular physical examination B. Develop good
living habits C. Maintain a good attitude D. Rely on scientific treatments.
2. What are the main functions of probiotics that you know? A. Promotes digestive health B. Enhances immunity
C. Regulates mental health D. Other potential effects
3. What benefits can be brought by combining probiotics with cancer drugs? A. Enhanced therapeutic efficacy B.
Reducing side effects C. Broader applicability D. Other expectations
4. Do you have any questions or concerns about targeted probiotic cancer therapy? A. Safety of the technology
B. Reliability of efficacy C. Ethical and social implications D. Other questions
We asked 12 people and recorded their feedback. The first question is asking which method they think is the
most useful in preventing the formation of tumors. Seven people answered having healthy living habits is the
most important among these choices. For the second question, we asked them if they had heard about probiotics
before and what they think is the major function of probiotics in our body. Most of them knew probiotics
before and 7 people chose probiotics to be used to promote digestive health and boost the immune system. For
the third question, which is what do they think is the biggest benefit of combining probiotics with tumor
drugs. Most people agree that this combination will develop the efficiency of the medicine and have fewer side
effects.
Finally, for the last question, we asked them what they think is the biggest concern of the use of probiotics.
Most people think the reliability of this medicine still needs to be tested by our experiments. There were
also participants providing some suggestions for us. They all agreed that our project, the use of probiotics
as promoters, is very creative, intelligent and useful. However, they suggested that we should prove the
reliability of the probiotics to our customers so that more people will be willing to purchase our product.
Event Feedback
According to this feedback, we noticed that young people rarely hear about the use of probiotics in tumor
drugs and only a very small number of them really know the major functions of probiotics in our bodies. So we
were also explaining how we are using probiotics in our project, which is using probiotics as a promoter and
sending the drugs to the tumors. The participants of our survey are mainly young kids around 6-16 years old,
and that’s why we were conducting this survey in the Science Center.
Other than conducting this survey, we also visited the rooms that showed how cells work and something about
cancer and tumors. We learned many new things from this trip, and we even got some ideas for making our
promotional video from there.
Reflection:
In conclusion, we all think this trip was very important and worthy. We received some great feedback from the
participants, especially those suggestions. We analyzed their feedback carefully when we returned to our
classroom and discussed the suggestions with all of our teammates. We need to pay attention to the
inspection of product safety, and strengthen the introduction of product efficacy and safety.
3.1 Interview 1 with Dr. Xu Ting
Background Information:
In order to gain more insight into the fundamental information regarding tumors and cancer, as well as the
challenges faced in tumor treatment, we are honored to invite Dr. Xu Ting, an oncologist from the Eastern
Hospital Group Oncology Hospital. He is highly skilled in addressing tumor-related issues and can explain
these matters in a clear and straightforward manner. Through this interview, we hope to understand the basic
concepts of tumors and cancer, existing treatment methods, their principles and shortcomings, insights into
probiotic therapies, and recommendations for our project. This interview will help us further define the
problems our product aims to solve and improve our offerings.
Interview Results:
What Are Tumors and Their Prevention Methods: Tumors can be categorized into benign and malignant
tumors, both of which refer to new substances formed by the proliferation of local tissue cells. Benign tumors
grow slowly and do not metastasize or undergo changes, while malignant tumors can spread and alter the body,
impacting overall health. Most indicators of tumors are subtle, often mirroring common ailments that persist
longer than usual, such as a prolonged cough. Some lumps can be detected through self-examination, but a
majority require hospital screening. Regarding prevention, tumors are not inherently frightening, and fear is
unnecessary. Regular screenings are important, especially for those over 40, who should have annual check-ups
to monitor their health. Early detection allows for timely diagnosis and treatment, so developing healthy
lifestyle habits is also crucial.
The Mechanism of Tumor Development: Tumor development can be attributed to two main categories:
internal and external factors. Internal causes include genetic factors. For example, if both parents have
malignant tumors, their child is at a higher risk of developing one due to genetic predisposition. Daily
behaviors can also mutate cells; if the repair proteins in the body cannot keep up with mutations, small
tumors may form and grow over time. External factors are often linked to poor lifestyle choices.
Existing Treatment Methods, Mechanism, and Limitations: There are three main pillars in tumor
treatment: surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Surgery is primarily used for early treatment to
remove tumors from the body, but it depends on the patient’s condition, such as tumor size and location.
Chemotherapy involves administering chemical drugs orally or intravenously to control tumor progression and
prevent relapse. Radiation therapy uses localized radiation, including gamma rays and X-rays, to destroy tumor
cells by damaging their DNA and inhibiting growth and division. Beyond these three, there are various
treatment options, including immunotherapy and targeted therapy. Despite the numerous treatment methods, they
often work in combination, enhancing efficacy. However, significant challenges remain, including drug
resistance due to long-term medication use causing mutations in tumor cells and evasion, where tumor cells
disguise themselves as normal cells to escape immune detection.
Major Issues Faced by Patients: Patients often experience dual pressure—physical and psychological.
Physically, chemotherapy can cause considerable trauma to the body, making it difficult for many patients to
endure. Psychologically, fear of tumors leads to heightened anxiety, which can disrupt sleep and worsen
physical health.
Probiotics in Treatment: Probiotics are primarily applied in the treatment of gut-related diseases,
serving as a supportive measure in chemotherapy. They can modify the microenvironment of a localized area,
promoting anti-tumor effects. For instance, they can alter the intestinal environment, potentially providing
preventative benefits.
Recommendations for Our Project: This study should prioritize large sample research methods instead of
limiting itself to small sample studies. Additionally, it is suggested to compare our project with various
others to highlight its uniqueness. The oral administration route is recommended for its convenience, allowing
patients to simply ingest the medication, significantly reducing their hospital stay duration and improving
compliance. As medical technology advances, more medications are being developed in oral form.
Reflection:
Cancer popularization: Considering the psychological stressors patients currently face, we will conduct
offline presentations and publish articles online to educate the public about basic information on tumors
and cancer. This aims to help more people view tumors and cancer with a realistic understanding,
reducing unnecessary panic. Through these efforts, we hope to raise awareness about the importance of
screenings, encouraging proactive health checks to minimize disease risk.
Problem Identification: By understanding and comparing tumor treatment methods, this project will
focus on the challenges faced in chemotherapy that affects normal cells. Our group plans to use probiotics
as a targeted approach for precise drug delivery, minimizing damage to healthy cells.
|
Surgery therapy |
Chemotherapy |
Radiation therapy |
Usability |
Early Stage Tumor |
Late stage cancer |
Preoperative radiotherapy and postoperative recurrence |
Principle |
Manual excision |
Oral or intravenous medication |
Radiation destroys tumor DNA |
By-effect |
Cannot be eradicated, might relapse |
Restrain the growth of marrow, kill other normal cells, drug resistance |
Cause damage to normal cells, radioactive toxins |
Product Form: Finally, we will consider Dr. Xu’s suggestions to broaden the sample size to make the
applicability more extensive, rather than limiting it to a small sample. Additionally, the oral form of the
drug is more convenient for patients than injection.
3.2 Interview 2 with Wen Zhiqiang
Background Information
Our experiment focused on combining a lactic acid promoter and genetic codes of chemical drugs and immune
drugs(used to treat cancer and tumors) separately onto the plasmids. This action can successfully increase the
efficiency of the medicine and reduce the negative effects on the human body. In the interview with Prof. Wen
Zhiqiang, who is a professor at Nanjing Normanl University and has systematically studied the metabolic
engineering of yeast, including genetic elements (such as promoters, terminators, reporter genes, and
screening markers), development of gene transformation methods, and gene manipulation techniques (such as gene
inactivation and overexpression), we aim to explore the development potential of the lactic acid promoter in
this experiment, binding and expression of lactic acid promoter vector and protein drug, clinical problems and
simulation.
Discussion Results:
1.Development of the lactic acid promoter.
Lactic acid promoters are promoters that detect nearby lactic acid levels and release the medicine. We want to
know if this kind of promoter is controllable, safe, and some other characteristics. The professor mentioned
that promoters that detect oxygen were broadly used. However, the limitation of using this kind of promoter is
it cannot work for all cancers or tumors. The use of a lactic acid promoter can solve this problem because all
tumors have the same characteristic, which is having a relatively higher lactic acid level nearby. So the use
of a lactic acid promoter is a good idea here in this experiment.
2.The combination of the promoter and drugs.
Our experiment was designed to send the drugs to the target locations by using the promoter. So we have to
think about combining the drugs and the promoter. The professor told us that we have to do experiments to
test the lactic acid level at which the promoter will release the drugs. This is important because the
promoter should not release the drug somewhere else than the targeted location. When we are testing the
performance of medicine(combined promoter and drug), we can use a kind of fluorescence protein to test
the medicine, proving if it successfully brings the drugs.
3.Clinical trial problems and simulation.
We noticed that the use of the promoter might have some negative effects on the human body so we also
discussed this. The professor said that the probiotics won't be a problem to use and there should not be any
negative effect if we are just using this kind of promoter. But we have to keep attention on treating
different cancers and tumors differently, also caring about the patient’s body performance. When we are
simulating the real body, we have to try our best to keep all the other variables the same as the human
body. This includes the body temperature, oxygen content, lactic acid level, and other variables. Only
this can improve the liability of the experiment. The safety of this experiment is also not a problem, because
the manufactured protein can not survive at places full of oxygen.
4.Conclusion and suggestion from the professor.
The professor mentioned that the design of our experiment is reasonable and feasible. However, we have to know
that the exploration of new medicine is endless, so we have to set a target or goal and know when to stop.
This could develop the efficiency of our project and prevent the waste of time.
Reflection:
The adaptability of our product: After the whole discussion with the professor, we learned about tumors
and cancers, such as anaerobic environments and high lactic acid environments, which confirmed our idea that
lactic acid promoters carry drugs and the use of this promoter can be used for all cancers and tumors and
hasn’t been used before.
The lactate level match between the product and the cancer: However, we have to do more experiments to
test the lactic level at which the promoter releases the drugs. This is important because we have to prevent
the promoter from releasing the drug in the wrong place.
Product Safety on different stages: Other than this, we understand a lot more about the experimental
steps, which is to do cell experiments first, and then to move on to biological experiments and clinical human
trials. At the cell stage, we will not meet those human safety problems now because we are only doing
experiments on cells.
In conclusion, we need to plan the objectives and process of the experiment, to improve efficiency and
complete the experiment.
3.3 Interview 3 with Ye Mao
Background Information:
In order to gain more insight into the clinical and commercialization issues of anti-tumor drugs and
investigate more details, we are honored to invite Dr. Ye Mao, an expert in oncology pharmaceuticals and
currently serving as the Production Director at Yipinhong Pharmaceutical, who boasts a distinguished career
that includes previous tenure at Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group. Currently employed by an innovative,
publicly listed pharmaceutical company in Guangzhou, he specializes in the research, development, and
production of diverse drug formulations, encompassing solid dosage forms, lyophilized preparations, liquid
formulations, traditional Chinese medicine extractions, as well as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
Through this interview, we want to understand the general clinical development process of antineoplastic
drugs, the laws and regulations that need to be followed, the difficulties of mass production of
antineoplastic drugs, and the commercialization path of antineoplastic drugs. This interview will help us
further understand specific process of clinical trials and commercialization after laboratory development.
Interview Results:
1. Clinical Development Path of Anticancer Drugs
The clinical cycle, which lasts for almost 10 years, can be divided into three stages: Phase I tests the drug's
tolerability, Phase II tests the drugs' efficacy, Phase III is a pre-market clinical trial, and large-scale
patients are approved for production and enter the market without problems. In short, this is an extremely
complex and energy-consuming process, especially for anti-tumer drugs. Dr. Ye Mao mentioned that the research
and development cycle of anti-tumor drugs is longer than that of general drugs, with high financial requirements
and high failure rates. Roughly summed up as three 10: 10 R & D cycles, $1 billion, 1 / 10 success rate (high
failure rate). Anti-tumor drugs must ensure that cancer patients can survive for more than 5 years to be
successful, but it is difficult to achieve this goal.
2. Regulations and Intellectual Property Protection in the Process of Anticancer Drug Development
Expert Ye mentioned that the first regulation to be faced with the development of anti-tumor drugs is the
national (China) regulations on clinical trials. China has strong practices in clinical trials, including trial
planning, trial execution, trial evaluation, and trial subjects protection. Secondly, the approval of new drugs
is accepted and approved by the State Drug Administration. In addition, the National Center for Drug Evaluation
and Management (CD) is responsible for issuing technical guidelines, including technical specifications for drug
dynamics and anti-tumor drug safety. Finally, in the process of drug research and development, we need to pay
attention to intellectual property issues and apply for patent protection in a timely manner. Patent protection
is a very important part of the drug development process. When developing new drugs, it is necessary to submit
patent applications to the State Intellectual Property Office and the International Patent Organization in a
timely manner to ensure that the technological achievements are legally protected. In addition, it is necessary
to establish its own patent protection network and apply for a series of peripheral patents around the core
patents to extend the protection of the core patents. Finally, in the event of infringement of intellectual
property rights, should use legal means to safeguard their own rights and interests.
3. Main Processes and Difficulties of Path Transformation from Laboratory to Mass Production
Problems that may be encountered in the transition from laboratory to mass production include product quality
control, environmental and safety issues, cost control and economic benefits. The meeting pointed out that
strict quality standards need to be established in the pharmaceutical production process to ensure product
quality. At the same time, it is also necessary to consider the market trends and commercialization potential of
drugs, such as the expanding market size of targeted anti-tumor drugs, but the high cost of treatment may affect
the large-scale promotion of drugs. In addition, the potential of probiotics in the anti-tumor drug market was
mentioned.
4. Market Trends and Competitors for Antineoplastic Drugs:
Chemotherapy on tumor cells and normal cells of the human body have killing effect, because the normal cells of
the human body have harm, so the side effects are relatively large. While playing the role of chemotherapy, may
cause great damage to the body cells, and may even cause fatal side effects. Target-targeted drugs are mainly
targeted at the specific target of cancer, directed killing tumor cells, so the damage to normal cells is small,
and the side effect is small. Because of these characteristics, targeted drugs are needed, especially for some
cancers with high incidence of a disease, such as lung cancer. The relevant tumor-targeted drugs are in great
demand under the driving effect of the market, and there are many kinds of research and development. Different
targeted drugs act on different targets, and off-target drug resistance may occur after long-term application.
For example, zebutinib, which is independently developed in China, mainly targets lymphoma with small side
effects and good effect, has a huge sales market at home and abroad. Over $1 billion in sales. Research and
development of new drugs is a huge investment, in the process of screening drugs, most fail, only a few stand
out. Only drugs with fewer side effects and better results have a chance of being approved for use. Therefore,
there is a protection period for all new drugs, in order to protect the interests of new drug developers and
their research and development institutions, otherwise no institutions and individuals are willing to carry out
new drug research and development, and over time, there is no funding for new drug research and development.
Under the regulation of market competition mechanism and price mechanism, some high-imitation drugs emerge in an
endless stream, which is bound to have a huge impact on the research and development of new drugs. In order to
ensure and protect the development of new drugs, it is necessary to establish the protection period of new
drugs. It is illegal to mimic a drug during protection.
5. The choice of dosage form of anti-tumor drugs:
If the drug can be taken orally, do not choose injection, because the injection of drugs on the blood vessel
damage and allergies are greater, so oral anti-tumor drugs are relatively more popular. However, oral drugs are
often less effective than intravenous injections because of the first-pass effect in the gut. Because of the
blood brain barrier, some drugs need to be injected intrathecally.
6. Anti-tumor drug sales channels:
Mostly prescription drugs need to be selected under the guidance of professionals. More than 90 percent come
from hospitals, and pharmacies also need a doctor's prescription to buy them. New drugs are mainly through
academic promotion, so that clinical doctors understand new drugs, and learn and recognize the characteristics
of new drugs, in order to be more widely applied. Therefore, the academic promotion of new drugs is a top
priority.
Reflection:
Regulatory and Intellectual Property Protection: Considering the legal, regulatory, and intellectual
property protection issues involved in the development of drugs, We need to implement in strict accordance
with the standards of the State Drug Administration and the National Center for Drug Evaluation and
Administration (CD) in the process of drug development and prepare to apply for intellectual property
protection to ensure their own interests.
Scale-up Issues: There are many issues that can be encountered during the transition from the
laboratory to mass production, including product quality control, environmental and safety issues, cost
control, and economics. We need to focus mainly on the biggest difficulty in the conversion process: quality
control issues in mass production, and our team needs to establish strict quality standards in the
pharmaceutical manufacturing process to ensure product quality. The quality management system includes quality
manuals, procedures, and corrective and preventive actions to ensure the stability and improvement of product
quality.
Product Positioning: According to the current anti-cancer drug market trends, our team should focus on
the advantages and positioning of drugs with fewer side effects and better efficacy.
Product Form: According to the analysis of drug dosage forms by Dr. Ye, oral drugs are often less
effective than intravenous injections, so we will mainly focus on injectable antitumor drugs. But at the same
time, we will continue to explore oral anti-tumor drugs, because the oral version is relatively more popular
with patients (less allergy risk)
Academic Promotion: Promotion of anti-cancer drugs: These prescription drugs must be made known to
doctors and professionals before they can be sold. Therefore, our team's approach to broad-spectrum
anti-cancer drugs is to promote them through professional academic activities, rather than through online
marketing.
3.4 Interview 4 with Zheng Wentao
Background Information:
In order to obtain suggestions on the design of our oncology therapeutic experiments as well as options for
improvement, we are honored to have invited Dr. Zheng Wentao, a postdoctoral student from Shandong University,
working at the Institute of Microbial Technology. He has in-depth research in the field of synthetic biology
and tumor therapy. We are looking forward to learning the suggestions for experimental design and improvement
of homologous recombination, introduction of natural products of anti-tumor genes, optimization of lactate
promoter, and suggestions through this interview. We will use this interview to improve our experimental
design and enhance the therapeutic effect of this design on tumor diseases.
Interview Results:
Dr. Zheng gave us positive feedback on our experimental design using lactic acid as a promoter and made
several suggestions for use in clinical trials.
1. Three strategies to optimize and enhance the efficiency of antitumor drugs
In the optimization of antitumor drugs, we can learn from the three strategies proposed by Dr. Zheng: first, in
the process of plasmid construction, for the problem of low transformation efficiency of plasmids with a length
of more than 20,000 base pairs, we can try different methods of transformation, such as chemical transformation,
thermal transformation, and electrical transformation, in order to improve the transformation efficiency.
Secondly, the use of homologous recombination technology to improve the integration efficiency of promoters and
antitumor drugs will enhance their effectiveness. Finally, optimization of promoters and replicons in strains
and homologous recombinant genes can further enhance the overall drug effect.
2. Assessment of anti-tumor drug effects
In order to assess the effect of antitumor drugs, we can screen tumor cells by performing tumor cell screening
on finished protein expression products. Injecting finished proteins into the culture medium and observing
whether they have any inhibitory effect on the growth of tumor cells, as well as whether they lead to cell
membrane rupture, cell damage or affect the division and replication of tumor cells, etc., which will help us to
confirm the anti-tumor ability of the drug and guide the subsequent optimization work.
3. Tips on artificially modified antitumor drugs
Dr. Zheng indicated that artificial modification on the basis of natural antitumor drugs or antitumor compounds,
such as the addition of specific antitumor amino acids, to enhance the efficacy of the drugs. This provides us
with effective ideas to improve the structure of the drug so that it retains its anti-tumor effect while
reducing the side effects on normal cells.
Dr. Zheng also detailed the process of anti-tumor drugs from research and development to production, taking the
example of Epothilone, which he has studied, and emphasized the importance of preliminary processing and
judgment of natural products, especially to avoid inhibitory effects on normal cells. If the natural product has
a significant effect on normal cells, it needs to be artificially modified to reduce this side effect while
retaining the inhibitory effect on tumor cells. The modified drug will enter the clinical trial stage and
eventually proceed to drug approval and market distribution.
4. Suggestions for future research directions
In addition, measuring the changes in lactate concentration in different stages of tumor growth can help assess
the overall effectiveness of the drugs we develop. For example, we can determine whether proteins are still able
to express the drug effectively when the lactate concentration is at its lowest. In addition, understanding how
to maximize the expression of the drug in the early stages of tumor growth when the lactate concentration is
low, thus effectively curbing tumor growth in the early stages rather than waiting until the tumor has
deteriorated, will help to improve the therapeutic efficacy.
Dr. Zheng also mentioned that by changing the sequence of the ribosome recognition region (RNA-binding region)
in the promoter, we can further enhance the expression ability of the promoter, which is challenging but
provides a direction for our project to develop in the future.
Reflection:
In response to Dr. Zheng's presentation and suggestions, we will look up and read the results of lactate
concentration tests on tumors at various stages to determine the minimum lactate concentration at which
proteins can accurately and efficiently express the drug:
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Optimize and enhance the efficiency of anti-tumor drugs: different transformation methods
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Assessment of anti-tumor drug effects: inject drugs into tumor cells and see the effect
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Tips on artificially modified anti-tumor drugs to reduce the side effects
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Suggestions: measuring the changes in lactate concentration in different stages of tumor growth