Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
>>Narrator: For more than four years, Sandra Stockhorst battled cancer and says besides
her faith in God, it was often the love for her horses that kept her going.
>>Sandra Stockhorst: Yeah, they were a huge motivation. IÕm going to walk to the barn
today. IÕm going to groom a horse today.
>>Narrator: Scientists say horses were both a comfort and motivation for Sandra - thanks
in part to a life-long love of the animals - and because of a chemical in her brain known
as dopamine. Doctors have known for decades that dopamine acts as a reward chemical in
the brain.
>> Sujit Basu, MD, PhD: But we were first to find out that dopamine has also some very
important roles in tumors.
>>Narrator: And itÕs a role that could be vital. In animal lab tests, Doctor Sujit Basu
and his team at Ohio StateÕs James Cancer Hospital Injected dopamine into cancer tumors
- and noticed vastly improved blood flow into the tumor tissue. And In cases like SandraÕs
that could be crucial.
>>Sandra Stockhorst: ThereÕs not the blood flow to the area where the cancer is like
there is to a normal organ or something like that and that that was a big challenge.
>>Narrator: But when dopamine was used, doctor Basu was able to more than double the amount
of medicine that got into tumors. That could make chemotherapy and radiation
treatments much more effective - and by using dopamine - extremely efficient.
>>Sujit Basu, MD, PhD: Another, most important thing is, dopamine costs 33-cents. So, when
you compare it to drugs being used in the clinics nowadays, itÕs really, really inexpensive.
>>Narrator: But could someday prove to be invaluable to those who need it most. At Ohio
StateÕs James Cancer Hospital this is Clark Powell reporting.