Scientists using proteins as a way to treat cancer
Published: September 13, 2005
A San Antonio research team in the Texas Research Park is focusing on proteins as a way to pinpoint and treat cancer.
Proteins are molecules present in every single cell of our bodies. The tiny particles reflect what is happening in our cells minute by minute.
That’s why scientist Elzbieta Izbicka believes they may be key to tailoring cancer therapy.
“Proteins can be good guys or bad guys. And the same protein with very small change can go to the dark side, so the speak,” said Izbicka, a biochemist at Institute for Drug Development.
In the biomarker lab at the Institute for Drug Development, scientists have made what could be a promising discovery.
A pilot study just published in the July-August issue of the Cancer Genomics and Proteomics journal shows a direct correlation between levels of certain proteins and the effectiveness of two of the most common chemotherapy drugs for lung, prostate and breast cancer.
Using blood samples and looking for the biomarkers, doctors may someday be able to predict which patients will benefit from which drug, taking out some of the guesswork and boosting the chances for survival.
Those same proteins may prove to be reporters in simple blood tests as a way to screen for cancers.
The work here has been in petri dishes and lab animals and it could be years before this discovery is proven in people.
“We cannot guarantee that what we have found in cells and animals would be actually true in the clinical situation, so this will take more work to find if our observation is real and this is science,” Izbicka said.
The Cancer Therapy and Research Center has a great track record with cutting edge therapies.
Thirteen of the last 17 cancer drugs approved by the Federal Drug Administration underwent development or testing by CTRC scientists and doctors.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: