Reading time: 5 minutes Chris Wang Since its discovery in 1982, therapies targeting the mutated KRAS oncogene have long eluded cancer researchers. KRAS has been considered an undruggable target for decades due to lack of a binding pocket where a drug could fit.1 However, the need for KRAS targeting therapies is severely needed as KRAS... Continue Reading →
Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy
Reading Time: 4 minutes Chris Wang The liver is a uniquely important organ in your body. It filters all of your blood, produces bile to digest foods/carry away waste, and can even regenerate even after 90% has been removed. Unfortunately, the liver is also an organ where many cancers metastasize to. Colorectal cancer in particular... Continue Reading →
Promiscuous kinase inhibitors: When having more than one partner can be good
Reading time: 4 minutes Chris Wang Unlike the Merriam Webster definition of promiscuous, describing a kinase inhibitor as promiscuous actually refers to the number of kinases it inhibits. The more promiscuous an inhibitor is, the higher number of off-targets it has. Traditional drug development strategies avoid promiscuous compounds because off-target effects can lead to side... Continue Reading →
How cancer cells dodge targeted “silver bullet” treatments: BRAF/MEK resistance in melanoma
Reading time: 5 minutes Chris Wang Like Keanu Reeves dodging bullets within The Matrix, cancer cells can dodge even carefully designed anti-cancer agents. Scientists strive to design “silver bullets,” ones which target cancer cells while sparing healthy normal cells. This "silver bullet" approach is appealing to researchers due to the promise of improved therapeutic response... Continue Reading →
CDK4/6 Kinase Inhibitors: Limiting Chemotherapy Toxicity
Reading time: 5 minutes Chris Wang Chemotherapy is a mainstay of cancer treatment, yet many times it is temporarily withheld or stopped due to significant toxicity. This is because chemotherapy drugs cannot differentiate between killing cancer cells and killing fast growing healthy cells, such as cells in your bone marrow. These cells divide quickly because... Continue Reading →
