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Using Enzymes To Counter Cancer Growth
sylvester22 writes to mention a Mercury News article about a possible breakthrough in cancer research from a research group in Oakland. Dr. Julie Saba and her team at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute are working with 'lyase,' an intestinal enzyme that apparently can inhibit cancer growth. The problem is that this enzyme is almost never found after a growth has become active. From the article: "Using cells in a tissue culture Saba said she and her team 'have been able to turn-on the enzyme after cancer cell growth had occurred.' The researchers found that re-introducing the enzyme made chemotherapy more effective in tissue cultures. 'Although we're beginning our studies in colon cancer, we believe our research findings will have a direct impact on investigations for other cancers, including pediatric cancers,' said Saba."
Unfortunately, there are many, many enzymes and proteins that are downregulated or mutated in cancer cells and most of them have been known for ages (p53http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P53, rb... tumor suppresors). The problem is that turning a gene on is not that easy in vivo. If everything that worked in cell culture worked in human patients there wouldn't be any more uncurable diseases.