Novel strategy to molecular anticancer therapy

A study spearheaded by Scientific Director Giulio Superti-Furga at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences shows that fast-growing cancer cells are sensitive towards imbalances in the metabolism of nucleotides, the building blocks of DNA. 

This vulnerability can be exploited for a radically novel antitumour therapeutic approach. Not only did the researchers from Vienna, in a joint effort with colleagues from Oxford and Stockholm, identify the enzyme MTH1 as an Achilles heel of malignant tumour cells, but also, in a wonderful twist of fate, they discovered the chemical mirror image of an existing anti-cancer drug called crizotinib to be an efficient inhibitor of MTH1 activity. For more click HERE.

video: 

novel strategy to molecular anticancer therapy tricks malignant cells