LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 8, 2012) — A new study by University of
Kentucky researchers shows how light and strained ruthenium-
based drugs may be more effective at fighting cancer cells and
less toxic to healthy cells than a similar and widely used drug.
Cisplatin is a common platinum-based cancer drug. But while
cisplatin kills cancer cells, it also attacks healthy cells,
causing debilitating side effects. Ruthenium is a rare
transition metal also belonging to the platinum group of the
periodic table, and the UK researchers developed two new
ruthenium complexes designed to kill cancer cells while
preserving healthy cells. These complexes are inert in the dark,
but when activated with light, they become up to 200 times as
toxic, and up to three times as potent as cisplatin against
tumor cells. Published in the Journal of the American Chemical
Society, the study examined the effects of these new complexes
on lung cancer and leukemia cells. Edith Glazer, UK assistant
professor of chemistry and principal investigator