Russian-Led Team Develops Powerful New Weapon Against Chemotherapy-Resistant Cancer
01:43 GMT 26.05.2026 (Updated: 14:55 GMT 26.05.2026)
© Sputnik / Aleksey Nikolskyi
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Scientists from South Ural State University (SUSU), working as part of an international research team, have developed and tested new platinum-based compounds capable of effectively fighting breast cancer.
According to the researchers, the synthesized compounds demonstrated greater effectiveness and lower toxicity than widely used commercial drugs. The study was published in the journal Biomedical Materials & Devices.
Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer worldwide, researchers at SUSU explained. Despite advances in treatment, many patients still face relapses and severe side effects from chemotherapy. The new platinum complexes, according to the authors, could form the basis for safer and more effective cancer drugs.
“For the first time, we have obtained compounds that not only suppress tumor growth, but also protect the body from toxic effects. This opens new horizons in cancer chemotherapy,” said Alena Zykova, researcher at SUSU’s Research Institute of Advanced Materials and Resource-Saving Technologies.
The researchers focused on a compound known as AV1 — a platinum (IV) ionic complex containing tris(hydroxymethyl)ammonium cations and hexachloroplatinate anions. Tests on breast cancer cell cultures showed that AV1 suppressed cancer cell growth twice as effectively as a widely used commercial drug.
Unlike conventional platinum-based chemotherapy drugs, which often cause severe side effects and face tumor resistance, platinum (IV) compounds allow scientists to create substances that remain stable in the bloodstream but become activated directly inside cancer cells, Zykova explained.
“The tetrahedral cations and octahedral anions in the AV1 structure provide not only high stability, but also dense crystal packing, which likely accounts for its low toxicity to healthy tissues,” she said.
Scientists tested the new compound on rats with breast cancer and found that AV1 demonstrated strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, suppressed tumor growth and metastasis, and restored mitochondrial function in the animals to normal levels.
“Even with long-term use, the compound caused no systemic toxicity: no liver, kidney or heart abnormalities were detected in the test animals, and their body weight remained normal,” Zykova noted.
Using quantum chemistry methods and computer modeling, the researchers discovered that AV1 interacts with cellular DNA differently from similar compounds. The compound’s likely primary target is topoisomerase I — an enzyme critical for cancer cell division. Blocking this protein triggers programmed tumor cell death.
“Computer modeling helps predict how a substance will behave in the body: whether it can bind to the desired protein, how active it will be, and how safe it is,” explained study co-author Jurica Novak, researcher at the Ruđer Bošković Institute.
“The method is based on a simple idea: similar molecules usually exhibit similar properties. If we know how previously studied compounds behave, we can predict the effects of new, untested ones with high probability. These approaches are critically important for drug development because they allow unsuitable candidates to be eliminated quickly, reduce the number of laboratory experiments, and accelerate and lower the cost of developing new medicines.”
According to the researchers, the development could become a breakthrough in treating chemotherapy-resistant forms of breast cancer, particularly triple-negative breast cancer, where standard treatments are often ineffective.
“The synthesis and characterization of new platinum (IV) complexes opens up new possibilities in chemotherapy. The AV1 complex demonstrated outstanding safety and effectiveness. In the future, we plan to study AV1’s mechanisms of action in greater detail and conduct toxicological studies, but it is already clear that this is an extremely promising direction,” Zykova emphasized.
If successful, the development could become the basis for a next-generation Russian anti-cancer drug.
The research involved scientists from South Ural State University (Chelyabinsk, Russia), the Ruđer Bošković Institute (Zagreb, Croatia), Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (Prayagraj, India), and King Saud University (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia).
