Cancer cells are aggressive. They divide and multiply, create their own blood supply, invade healthy tissue, and resist death. Even when targeted therapies efficiently kill these cells, neighboring cells are often left behind. These bystander cells can be malicious. If left intact, they can lead to tumor regrowth, and many therapies that act like snipers against cancer cells leave bystander cells unscathed.
Now K.C. Nicolaou, a synthetic chemist at Rice University, and his colleagues have discovered that an antibiotic-linked antibody, known as an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), kills bystander cells as efficiently as it kills targeted cancer cells.
“The bystander effect could be the key to opening new avenues for more effective anticancer ADCs that may improve targeted cancer therapies,” Nicolaou said in an email.
ADCs are gaining momentum against cancer. More than 80 ADCs are advancing through clinical trials, and nearly a dozen have been approved as therapies. One of ...
