Researchers find drug that blocks spread of lung cancer in mice
DALLAS - Sept. 1, 2005 - Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical
Center have found a compound that shows promise as a way to
block the spread, or metastasis, of lung cancer. The researchers
found that the compound blocks an enzyme that is known to keep
cells immortal and that is implicated in almost all human
cancers. From results in mice, they determined that the
compound, called GRN163L, also works rapidly and in doses that
would be reasonable for therapy. It may be particularly useful
after surgery or in combination with chemotherapy or
radiotherapy to prevent residual cancer cells from spreading.
"We showed for the first time that this drug can work in
animals," said Dr. Jerry Shay, professor of cell biology at UT
Southwestern and senior author of the study, which appears in
the September issue of the journal Cancer Research. Lung cancer
is the leading cause of cancer death, killing more people than
breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon can