27 Oct2014
Highly effective new anti-cancer drug shows few side effects in mice
This is an illustration depicting liposomal OTS964 entering cancer cells where it blocks the enzyme TOPK, preventing the final stage of cell division. | Credit: Jae-Hyun Park D.V.M., Ph.D., Research Associate/Assistant Professor, Section of Hematology/Oncology, The University of Chicago
A new drug, known as OTS964, can eradicate aggressive human lung cancers transplanted into mice, according to a report in Science Translational Medicine. The drug, given as a pill or by injection, inhibits the action of a protein that is overproduced by several tumor types, including lung and breast, but is rarely expressed in healthy adult tissues. Without this protein, cancer cells fail to complete the cell-division process and die.
