IF WE UNDERSTAND IT, WE CAN FIX IT

Linda in Windsor Castle

Protected by Gurkas

The Queen was not at home



 

 

“If we understand it, we can fix it.”

With those words, Dr. Robert Eisenman of Fred Hutch reinforces my firm belief that continued work on the basic biology of cancer is valuable and ought to be richly and intelligently supported.

Dr. Eisenman works on the potential oncogene Myc.  Faithful readers will recognize this biological object; I have written about it several times before.  I still don’t understand what it does, but it is clear that – when mutated – it is implicit in cancer growth.  You can’t go after Myc directly, for several reasons, but apparently you can go after a protein called MondoA which mutated Myc needs to do its job in cancer – which is, to create material for cell growth.  MondoA is not necessary to healthy cells, it seems, so it is a fine target for an anti-cancer drug.  The Hutch people apparently already have located such drugs (orphan drugs?) and tested them on mice, successfully.  Unfortunately, “the human impact of these findings are years away”.  Again, an excess of caution – in my view.

Here is the article.  It is only one page long, so read it. 

http://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/center-news/2015/02/uncovering-cancers-metabolic-quirks.html

I have tangled with Myc several times, most notably on 7/2/12 and 10/3/12.  As you will see,Myc won on each occasion.