Hyderabad and Kolkata scientists develop smart metal agents to combat aggressive breast cancer

In a collaborative breakthrough, scientists from Hyderabad's CCMB and IISER Kolkata have developed metal-based compounds capable of selectively targeting and destroying triple-negative breast cancer cells. The discovery marks a significant step in developing treatments for aggressive and treatment-resistant forms of breast cancer.

Hyderabad: In a groundbreaking collaborative research effort, scientists from Hyderabad and Kolkata have discovered new, powerful agents that can fight aggressive forms of breast cancer.

These therapeutic agents, which are tiny metal compounds, can act like ‘super-soldiers’ with a special ability to fight the tricky triple-negative breast cancer cells, unlike chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, which act on even healthy cells and not just cancer cells.

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Developed by scientists from Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and IISER Kolkata, the powerful agents effectively target and kill the cancer-causing cells in two distinct ways.

The study, published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (July, 2025), indicates that the anti-cancer agents, which are metal-based compounds, enter the cancer cells and begin damaging them through a process called reactive oxygen species (ROS). These agents can destroy the defences of cancer cells, which are proteins known as peroxiredoxins and superoxide dismutase.

Without their defences, the cancer cells are destroyed in two different ways. One way is a process known as ferroptosis, where cancer cells basically rust from inside and fall apart. In the other way, which is known as autophagic cell death, where the anti-cancer agents induce the cancer cells to self-digest and perish.

The agents developed by researchers have the ability to destroy tough-to-kill cancer cells by taking away their ability to defend, forcing them to self-destruct.

According to CCMB and IISER researchers, this technique especially is promising for fighting cancers that have learned to resist or bypass traditional treatments like radiation, surgery and chemotherapy.

According to researchers from CCMB and IISER, this new technique is especially promising for fighting cancers that have become resistant to traditional treatments like radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy.

The new mechanism is significant because it provides an alternative for treating advanced cancer cells, especially in cases where common and highly effective targeted therapies —such as hormone-blocking drugs or medications that target the HER2 protein—are not an option.