IIT-M, Sankara Nethralaya to conduct major research on ‘retinoblastoma’

The research aims to identify five more new drug targets, which offer the potential for developing new and more effective drugs with minimal side-effects.

Retinoblastoma is a rare form of cancer that affects one in every 1,500 children across the world. In India alone, 1,500 new cases of Paediatric Retinoblastoma are reported every day, adding tremendously to the socio-economic burden of cancer care. 

The most common symptoms of this disease are the appearance of a white dot in the retina and squint.   As with most forms of cancer, the key to retinoblastoma management is early detection and treatment.

The research team member and faculty of Department of Chemical Engineering and Initiative for Biological Systems Engineering (IBSE), IIT Madras Dr Swagatika Sahoo said the consequences of cancer treatment are often grave due to their serious and often dilapidating side effects.

“Hence, it is important to develop safer drugs,” she said adding the anti-cancer drug must selectively target malignant cells with high specificity, without affecting healthy cells, thereby avoiding serious side effects.

Stating that the discovery of such drugs depends on understanding of differences in the mechanisms by which cancer cells grow and spread as opposed to normal cells, she said using genome-scale mathematical modelling approaches, like the one described in this research, as well as, it’s validation/support from experimental experts can pave newer and safer diagnostics.