Scientists have designed a system that not only makes "addicted" tumors go cold turkey, it makes them die.
According to a study appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Yale University have designed nano-particles loaded with drugs that go after a gene product that cancer cells need in order to replicate.
This approach, that the tumor is 'addicted' to certain genetic abnormalities in order to replicate and survive, is a fresh concept in cancer research.
According to study author Frank Slack, professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, and director of the Cancer Genetics and Genomics Program for the Yale Cancer Center, “Thousands of genes are mis-expressed in cancer, but so far cancer researchers have only found 10 or so that cancer cells absolutely need to survive."
Working with Yale engineers, Slack's team identified one of those genes and developed nanoparticles to be able to go in and block the expression of that gene. Using lab mice with lymphomas, they injected their tumors with nanoparticles that contained a compound that specifically targets the selected gene, and were able to stop them from growing.
The gene targeted isn't exclusive to lymphoma, but rather is overexpressed in many cancers, making it an attractive target for research. Slack and his team hope to move into human clinical trials once they have perfected the system in the lab.
Source: Medical Xpress
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