Targeting The Big C

New techniques aim at hitting the cancer cell target without colateral damage

By JENNIFER L. SCHENKER

Posted Sunday, Dec. 8, 2002; 2.02 p.m. GMT
Most cancer treatments attack not just cancer cells, but healthy ones too — the equivalent of a carpet bombing that kills not only the enemy but anything else in its path. But in 2003, precision beckons: new drugs are being designed at the cell's molecular level to act more like smart bombs, attacking and killing the cancer while sparing the "good" cells, thus reducing or even eliminating side effects.

Following the lead of Swiss-based Novartis, whose well-publicized drug Glivec targets a rare form of leukemia, other targeted approaches to cancer treatment show promise. Cyclacel, a Scottish biopharmaceutical company whose ceo is World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer Spiro Rombotis, a 44-year-old Greek, is spearheading the use of cell cycle inhibitors, which stop uncontrolled cell division in cancer and other serious diseases but spare healthy cells and tissues. Cyclacel's drugs zero in on the molecular Achilles heel of cancer cells, cdk, part of an enzyme that was the subject of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Cyclacel is developing a number of new drugs which mimic how the body suppresses tumor growth, including one called CYC202, which shows promise in treating solid tumors, like breast, colon and prostate cancers, as well as glomerulonephritis, a kidney disease caused by renal cell proliferation.

Another approach is to prompt the body's immune system to get aggressive with cancer cells — a crucial part of the work being led by Tech Pioneer Frank Gleeson, the 47-year-old ceo of Canada's MDS Proteomics. Understanding how proteins malfunction in cancer and other diseases can lead to treatment; MDS Proteomics' goal is to make antibodies that will disable the malfunctioning proteins that cause disease. It is working on therapeutic antibodies for a variety of cancers, including colon cancer. The company expects to begin human trials in several years. All of these developments bring us closer to an era in which cancer therapies are more efficient — a step that could ease the misery of millions while the world waits for a cure.

BACK TO TOP

How to Kill a Cancer [Dec. 2, 2002] Inside the hopeful search for a vaccine to beat a virus that causes cervical tumors

The New Thinking On Breast Cancer [Feb. 18, 2002] Time Magazine Cover: The field has never been more exciting — or more confusing. What every woman should know.

Get the Magazine — Try 4 Issues Free!

	S O C I E T Y Islam In Europe An inside look at how Europe's Muslims adapt to secular society — and vice-versa T H E A T E R Boney's Part A stage extravaganza, a TV mini-series and a clutch of films put Napoleon in the spotlight again E U R O P E Outta Here A faltering economy and Schröder's policies have companies fleeing Germany P O L I T I C S Wages Of Spin Cherie Blair didn't know she was doing business with a con man, but it's Tony and New Labour who may pay the price