Dennis L. Buckley, PhD (Damon Runyon Merck Fellow ’14-’18), James E. Bradner, MD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ’11-’13), and colleagues at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, reported the development of a new strategy that uses tumor cells’ own machinery to disintegrate and dispose of proteins that drive cancer growth. When tested in laboratory samples of leukemia cells and in animal models of the disease, the approach caused cancer cells to die much more quickly than with conventional targeted therapies. This chemical technology may offer a way to improve many cancer drug molecules, develop new inhibitors of “undruggable” proteins and overcome drug resistance. This study was published in the journal Science.
