Bromopyruvic acid, or bromopyruvate, is a synthetic brominated

Bromine

Bromine ") is a chemical element with the symbol Br, an atomic number of 35, and an atomic mass of 79.904. It is in the halogen element group. The element was isolated independently by two chemists, Carl Jacob Löwig and Antoine Jerome Balard, in 1825–1826...

 derivative of pyruvic acid

Pyruvic acid

Pyruvic acid is an organic acid, a ketone, as well as the simplest of the alpha-keto acids. The carboxylate ion of pyruvic acid, CH3COCOO−, is known as pyruvate, and is a key intersection in several metabolic pathways....

. It is being studied as a potential treatment for certain types of cancer. Initial studies in laboratory animals researchers at Johns Hopkins showed that bromopyruvic acid is effective at eliminating aggressive liver tumors.

According to the Warburg hypothesis

Warburg hypothesis

The Warburg effect is the observation that cancer cells exhibit glycolysis with lactate secretion and mitochondrial respiration even in the presence of oxygen....

, unlike normal tissues that derive most of their energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate

Adenosine triphosphate

Adenosine-5'-triphosphate is a multifunctional nucleoside triphosphate used in cells as a coenzyme. It is often called the "molecular unit of currency" of intracellular energy transfer. ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism...

 (ATP) by metabolizing either glucose

Glucose

Glucose is a simple sugar and an important carbohydrate in biology. Cells use it as the primary source of energy and a metabolic intermediate...

 or fatty acids for energy production in the mitochondria, aggressive cancers obtain much of their ATP by metabolizing glucose directly to lactic acid

Lactic acid

Lactic acid, also known as milk acid, is a chemical compound that plays a role in various biochemical processes and was first isolated in 1780 by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. Lactic acid is a carboxylic acid with the chemical formula C3H6O3...

. The mechanism of action

Mechanism of action

In pharmacology, the term mechanism of action refers to the specific biochemical interaction through which a drug substance produces its pharmacological effect...

 of bromopyruvic acid involves interruption of this latter process by the inhibition

Enzyme inhibitor

An enzyme inhibitor is a molecule that binds to enzymes and decreases their activity. Since blocking an enzyme's activity can kill a pathogen or correct a metabolic imbalance, many drugs are enzyme inhibitors. They are also used as herbicides and pesticides...

 of the enzyme hexokinase II

Hexokinase

A hexokinase is an enzyme that phosphorylates a six-carbon sugar, a hexose, to a hexose phosphate. In most tissues and organisms, glucose is the most important substrate of hexokinases, and glucose-6-phosphate the most important product....

because the bromopyruvic acid is similar in chemical structure to lactic acid.

A study reported that intraarterial delivery of bromopyruvic acid directly to the site of a tumor represents a new strategy for stopping the growth of liver cancer while minimizing toxic side-effects.

While pre-clinical studies have been promising, human clinical trials to study the effectiveness of bromopyruvic acid have not yet begun. Application for patent has already been submitted.

External links

• The cancer cell's "power plants" as promising therapeutic targets: An overview, by Peter Pederson
• Glycolytic enzyme inhibitors as novel anti-cancer drugs, James C.K. Lai et al., Idaho State, June 2007
• Pyruvate in Cancer Prevention and Treatment
• Energy Blocker Kills Big Tumors in Rats
• 3-Bromopyruvic Acid As a Potent Anticancer Agent Delivered Intraarterially