America of a famous hospital Scientists by Cancer A cell-killing drug has been developed that destroys solid tumors through ‘targeted chemotherapy’.
The pill contains a protein, for example, that acts like a ‘blizzard that can shut down an airline’s main hub and thus stop the flow of only planes carrying cancer cells.’
The protein was developed by a research team at City of Hope Hospital, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States.
A molecule called AOH1996 works by targeting the cancer variant of PCNA, a protein important for DNA replication and tumor growth.
Developed over the past two decades, this drug has proven effective in clinical research to treat breast, prostate, brain, ovarian, cervical, skin and lung cancers.
In this study, published in the medical journal ‘Cell Chemical Biology’, this protein was tested on more than 70 cancer cell lines.
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The results showed that the AOH1996 molecule selectively killed cancer cells by disrupting the normal reproductive cycle of the cell. The next step is to advance these findings through clinical trials in humans.
Dr Linda Malkas, PhD, Professor of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics at City of Hope and MT&BA Professor of Molecular Oncology, Ahmadineja said: ‘PCNA is like a large airline terminal hub with a More air gates are included. The data showed that PCNA is uniquely mutated in cancer cells and this fact helped us develop a drug that would target only the mutated form of PCNA in cancer cells. is.’
He added: ‘Our cancer-killing drug is like a blizzard that shuts down a major airline hub only to stop all flights carrying cancer cells.’
According to him: ‘The results have been promising. AOH1996 can inhibit tumor growth as a monotherapy without inducing toxicity in cell and animal models. The investigational chemotherapy is currently in a phase one human clinical trial at City of Hope.’
The study’s lead author, Long Guo, associate research professor in the Department of Molecular Diagnostics at Beckman Research Institute in the City of Hope, added: ‘No drug has ever targeted PCNA therapeutically. was made because it was considered ‘untreatable’ but clearly City of Hope was able to develop an investigational drug to target a challenging protein.’
According to him: ‘We discovered that PCNA is one of the possible causes of increased nucleic acid replication errors in cancer cells. Now that we know the specific part of the problem and can prevent it, we will go deeper to understand the process to develop more personalized and targeted cancer drugs.’
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What are the key mechanisms by which AOH1996 targets and disrupts cancer cell growth?
**Interview with Dr. Linda Malkas, Lead Researcher at City of Hope Hospital**
**Editor:** Thank you for joining us today, Dr. Malkas. Your team has developed an exciting new drug, AOH1996, which targets solid tumors using a novel approach. Can you explain how this drug works?
**Dr. Malkas:** Thank you for having me. AOH1996 is designed to target a specific variant of a protein called PCNA, which plays a crucial role in DNA replication and tumor growth. You can think of PCNA as a busy airline terminal. In cancer cells, this terminal is uniquely mutated, allowing us to precisely disrupt its function—like a blizzard shutting down flights—stopping the flow of *only* cancer cells, all while sparing healthy ones.
**Editor:** That’s a fascinating analogy! In your studies, how effective has AOH1996 been against various forms of cancer?
**Dr. Malkas:** We tested AOH1996 on over 70 different cancer cell lines, including breast, prostate, brain, and ovarian cancers. The results were promising; we observed that the drug selectively killed cancer cells by disrupting their reproductive cycle, significantly inhibiting tumor growth.
**Editor:** Could you share the next steps for this promising therapy?
**Dr. Malkas:** Certainly. Following our successful preclinical results, the next crucial step is to initiate clinical trials in humans. This phase will help us understand the drug’s effectiveness and safety profile in actual patients, paving the way for potential approval for clinical use.
**Editor:** That sounds like an important step forward in cancer treatment. What impact do you hope AOH1996 will have in the field of oncology?
**Dr. Malkas:** We believe that AOH1996 has the potential to revolutionize how we approach chemotherapy. By eliminating cancer cells more selectively, it may lead to fewer side effects and improved outcomes for patients, which is ultimately our goal in cancer research.
**Editor:** Thank you, Dr. Malkas, for sharing your insights and the exciting developments from City of Hope. We look forward to following the progress of AOH1996.
**Dr. Malkas:** Thank you for your interest! It’s essential to keep the conversation about cancer research alive.
