5 ms·
IANAD but I always thought that cancer cells were relatively weak and therefore actually killing them was not a big deal - all kinds of things can kill cancer -
by GiraffeNecktie 17y ago
IANAD but I always thought that cancer cells were relatively weak and therefore actually killing them was not a big deal - all kinds of things can kill cancer - the problem is effectively delivering the killing mechanism to the site of the cancer without harming surrounding tissue.
- anigbrowl 17y agoThat's what apparently makes this quite nice - uses the same mechanism as that which carries iron in the bloodstream so it seems low overhead (vs chemo) and high selectivity. The intravenous administration of transferrin-bearing polypropylenimine polyplex resulted in gene expression mainly in the tumors. Consequently, the intravenous administration of the delivery system complexed to a therapeutic DNA led to a rapid and sustained tumor regression over one month, with long- term survival of 100% of the animals (90% complete response, 10% partial response).The treatment was well tolerated by the animals, with no apparent signs of toxicity. Intravenous administration is very promising, as it suggests the possibility of targeting cancer anywhere in the body. The transferrin receptor is apparently common to many human cancers.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]