Ancient drugs, modern targets

摘要

The road to a new anticancer drug is long and winding. In the prevalent approach to drug discovery, a cellular characteristic such as aberrant growth signaling or invasiveness is elucidated at the molecular level. The identification of key regulators then informs a high throughput screen for lead compounds that will alter the growth of a target cell in a rational manner. The emergent lead compounds are tested, modified and tested again as they are applied to cells, animals and if still promising, to human subjects. High costs mean that compounds (and hypotheses) that fail at any stage are most often abandoned. As a result, few go the distance. Alternatives to this arduous process are obviously attractive.