Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., found a Trojan horse therapy to be effective against a variety of cancerous tumors, including difficult-to-reach brain tumors, in a laboratory setting, according to a study published July 15 in ACS Central Science.
The therapy targets the fuel used to nourish tumors, according to a July 15 news release from the Yale Cancer Center.
The technique acts as a Trojan horse by attaching cancer drugs to nucleic acid released from dying cells inside growing tumors. The drug then crosses the tumor's membrane as live cancer cells pull the nucleic acid into the tumor with the cancer drug attached. The drug, called an antinuclear antibody-drug conjugate, can then begin to attack the tumor from the inside.
"A likely welcome effect of this very targeted therapy is a reduction in toxic side effects experienced by patients when less precise therapies kill off healthy tissue," the release said.