Fighting Cancer With A $10 Bar Of Soap: Virginia 9th Grader Wins Science Challenge For Cancer-Fighting Soap Invention

While many ninth graders are navigating the challenges of high school, a student from Virginia developed a cancer-killing soap that potentially encourages the body to fight off skin cancer.

Heman Bekele, a ninth grader at W.T. Woodson High School, created the soap to help people live healthier lives. Bekele, who moved to the United States at age 4, recalled his childhood in Ethiopia during an interview with The Washington Post. 

"There, I always saw people who were constantly working under the hot sun," he said. "I wanted to make my idea something that not only was great in terms of science but also could be accessible to as many people as possible."

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Bekele's soap contains three compounds that can reactivate dendritic cells — white blood cells that help the body fight infection. Dendritic cells produce cytokines upon activation. Cytokines are proteins that help to signal other immune cells to attack cancer cells.

In a study published in the journal ACS Nano, Bekele's soap effectively killed melanoma cells in mice. The soap also reduced the size of tumors and prolonged the length of time the mice survived.

Bekele earned several awards for his invention, including the grand prize at the 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge. He is working with a team of scientists to develop his soap to potentially help prevent, delay and treat skin cancers in humans.

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Starpax Biopharma is a startup that is also taking a novel approach to cancer treatment. The company uses proprietary Magnetodrones that carry anticancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) directly into tumors for optimal impact. 

If the FDA approves the soap for human use, it could change how dermatologists and other clinicians treat skin cancer. The soap has the potential to prevent skin cancer and treat or delay the progression of various stages of the disease.

Activating dendritic cells, which play an important role in the immune system, could help boost the body's ability to fight breast, lung and colon cancers as well.

Bekele's soap is in the preclinical phase of development. If it proves safe and effective on animals, the next step is to conduct clinical trials in humans in a three-phase approach that tests it in small groups. If it is determined to be safe, trials will move to larger groups before it is compared to existing treatments.

If the soap receives FDA approval, it would disrupt the cancer treatment market. At $10 per bar, the soap would be a cost-effective regimen compared to traditional treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. It also could be used with other treatments or as an immune system booster before surgery.

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