WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-How a fish could help fight tumors

September 16, 2011

Tiny, tropical, striped fish could hold the key to curing the hormonal disorder called Cushing's disease.

"The genetic makeup of zebra fish  and our genetic makeup are remarkably similar," said Dr. Shlomo Melmed, an endocrinologist. "With very few differences."

In people with Cushing's, a tumor on the pituitary gland causes it to produce too much of the hormone cortisol. That affects blood pressure and metabolism and can lead to diabetes, heart disease and sometimes death.

In the Cedars Sinai lab they're using zebra fish to test up to 300 drugs each week that could fight the tumors. Researchers are able to watch the fish from the first cell of growth.

"The beauty of zebra fish embryos is because they're transparent and as we introduce these fluorescent markers we can follow them," said Dr. Ning-Ai Liu of Cedars Sinai Medical Center.

Green markers show normal pituitary gland growth, red indicates the tumor. Researchers can then watch how drugs affect tumor growth.

Only about one in 100,000 people suffer with Cushing's disease and almost all of them are women. Symptoms include a puffy face, sudden weight gain, skin changes and irritability.

"Our goal is to discover a medical therapy for Cushing's disease; a medical therapy to control the tumor growth," Melmed said.

With no drug treatments available for Cushing's, Cedars Sinai scientists hope their research will lead to new options.

Click here for more on using zebra fish to find treatments for Cushing's disease.

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