Block Its Recycling System, And Cancer Kicks The Can Potent new
drug kills tumor cells in mice by clogging up their recycling
system All cells have the ability to recycle unwanted or damaged
proteins and reuse the building blocks as food. But cancer cells
have ramped up the system, called autophagy, and rely on it to
escape damage in the face of chemotherapy and other treatments.
Now, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine; the
Abramson Cancer Center; and the School of Arts and Sciences, at
the University of Pennsylvania, have developed a potent new drug
that clogs up the recycling machinery and kills tumor cells in
mouse models. Ravi K. Amaravadi, MD, assistant professor of
Medicine, and colleagues showed previously that an old malaria
drug, hydroxychloroquine, reduces autophagy in cancer cells and
makes them more likely to die when exposed to chemotherapy. The
strategy is currently being tested in clinical trials, and
preliminary results are promising. The catch, though, is that
it’s not always poss