Molecular "Decoy" Drives Cancer Cells to Suicide

Researchers at the Curie Institute have developed a molecular "decoy" that mimics DNA damage and drives cancer cells to destroy themselves.

Conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy strive to cause enough cell damage that the process of apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is triggered in cancerous cells. However, sometimes the damage is not enough and the cancerous cells can repair themselves and live on. Scientists developed tiny DNA fragments called Dbaits that mimic the broken ends of the long molecule. The cancer cells are tricked into believing they are more damaged than they really are, triggering apoptosis.

In laboratory mice, researchers were able to destroy 75% to 100% of tumors injected with Dbaits plus radiotherapy, compared to 30% to 50% using only radiotherapy. Dbaits also have the advantage of requiring lesser doses of radiation, which often damages surrounding healthy tissue as well as cancerous cells.

These results were published in a recent issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

Source: Yahoo!