The Liposome Solution
The benefits of many drugs, especially those used to combat cancer, are compromised by their toxicity. Now a Berkeley, Calif., researcher believes he has developed a technology that overcomes this problem, thus making possible more successful treatments of cancer and other diseases - and changing the way pharmaceutical companies will do science. Kenneth Matsumura, director of the Alin Foundation's Immunity Research Laboratory, believes he has found a method of using liposomes, tiny microspheres of lipid, to carry antidotes to nondiseased cells needing protection from the side effects of therapeutic drugs. In animal studies, Matsumura has been able to reduce or eliminate side effects caused by common cancer drugs, including methrotrexate, a breast cancer therapeutic that typically destroys bone marrow. According to Matsumura, this technology immediately opens up to drug researchers a range of useful drugs that have been discarded because of their toxicity. "We have on the...
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