(Key points: We need to elevate the play field in finding effective cancer therapy by using a time-tested strategy. New products of multiple compounds in one single mixture to target multiple points in cancer should not be too far from market if we deeply understand the mechanism of the disease, not the information we already gained about signal transduction pathways.)
When I sat in the clinic to write prescriptions for patients years ago, I always wonder how this single compound in the pill can solve all problems in a complex disease. Indeed, there don’t do a good job. In most cases it only has a marginal effect. After countless patients died of cancer and many big or small pharmaceutical companies failed to deliver a promising golden opportunity upon groundbreaking finding in genome, they finally brace a new concept: combination therapy. Sever companies are now teaming up to try maximizing the benefits of their different strength and expertise so expecting wonderful cancer combination treatments may save their profit bottle lines.
It is going to waste even more money and lose many valuable lives before they realize this strategy will only gain a marginal effect, too, and they still can’t deal with the complexity of a disease like cancer. For an investor it is going to be very costly if the leader of such initial started from an overheard in a crowded and noise airport, as a famous story reported some time ago. It is wise to say any impulse action without deep knowledge and thorough thought destined to fail.
Let’s enter a new play field: multiple drugs in one mixture soup to attack multiple targets in a cancer.
Someone commented that this is not a new idea and it will not work. This cause me several sleepless nights. After checking all information I am confident that next time you hear someone says that there is nothing new under the sun. You just start speaking a long list of innovation in the past several decades until the listener finally gives up.
A successful mixture for cancer treatment will have the following characters:
It should be almost free from any molecule in signal transduction pathways. Over years scientists have developed a vast web of signal transduction pathways, especially for many growth factors like EGF and FGF. Over and over again it has been proven almost all of those molecules useless in developing an effective and life-saving drug against cancer. It is time to abandon this strategy altogether.
It should base on a deep understanding in the mechanism of a complex disease. Again, don’t talk about any signal transduction pathway. A clear map of the disease mechanism is just like a map of a forest with marked every tree and small stream so we know where should go and what is the worthy investment for our time and limited resource.
It will not be rational and logic by combining any proven little or marginal effect drugs together and wish to amplify their effects to a satisfying level, just as most experts in the pharmaceutical industry are trying doing now.
It is not just the target of the underlying disease but also including the target of the target. Some component in the mixture may be too strong and need a counterparty to balance its effect and bring down side effect.
This is certainly not first time in human history to treat cancer like this. Over several thousand years some mixtures in alternative medicine already did this with some successes. We need to borrow this ancient wisdom and aim at an innovation. In the end to recycle all those time-tested strategy and wisely using modern powerful tools will make this combination therapy not far from market.
(This article is the forth in a series of “the Brand New Mindset for Cancer” essays. It was published on 9/1/2011.)
No comments:
Post a Comment