Hyderabad University to make chemotherapy less painful

The University of Hyderabad, through one of its research initiatives, has discovered a natural product that prevents chemotherapy-induced toxic effects. The university plans to start human trials for the product soon.

Seyed E Hasnain, vice-chancellor of the University of Hyderabad, told mediapersons, "Cancer patients need to undergo chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgical intervention for treatment. However, sometimes chemotherapeutic agents also have a direct toxic effect on the body. Through research we have been able to discover a natural product that can prevent the toxic effects induced by chemotherapy. The product has been tested on rats and is ready for human trial."

Chemotherapy is treatment of cancer with drugs that kill the cancer cells and stop them from growing. This treatment, however, is also known to have adverse side-effects in the form of hair loss and temporary loss of body's immunity.

According to the World Health Organisation, more than 11 million people are diagnosed with cancer every year and it is estimated that there will be 16 million new cases every year by 2020.

Meanwhile, Hasnain said that the university had a capex plan of Rs 38 crore (Rs 380 million) this year for adding new buildings, hostels and renovation of labs.

About Rs 4 crore (Rs 40 million) will also be spent on enabling 34Mbps Wifi connectivity across the over 2,000-acre campus.

The University of Hyderabad has also got a grant of Rs 1.5 crore (Rs 15 million) to start a technology incubator on the campus. It is also setting up a centre for nanotechnology in the next few months.

A Hyderabad School of Economics, which will have courses in niche areas like microfinance, actuarial science and Islamic banking, is also on the cards. This year, the foundation stone for the Rs 250-crore (Rs 2.5 billion) National Institute of Animal Biotechnology will also be laid.

The university has a student strength of about 2,700 and plans to double it next year. This year, it started a five-year integrated master's programme, which provides an option of trans-discipline switchover.

This means that students who take up humanities for instance, could switch over to science after three years of the course. Next year, the university hopes to get a grant of Rs 140 crore (Rs 1.4 billion) for future initiatives.