Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Cooking analogy:

This is a bit of a stretch, but it might be helpful for people who like to work with analogies.

Traditional anti-neoplastic agents such as chemotherapy and radiation work like a conventional oven, which cooks from the outside-in. Chemo and radiation, which work by direct contact with individual tumor cells, kill tumor cells on the outside of a tumor mass more effectively than tumor cells on the inside; i.e. they kill tumors from the outside-in.

Anti-angio/VTA drugs, on the other hand, work like a microwave, which cooks from the inside-out. Anti-angio/VTA drugs are generally most effective at starving tumor cells on the inside of a tumor mass, as these are the cells furthest from the oxygen/nutrient supply lines. Hence these drugs effectively kill a tumor from the inside-out.

Thus, we have the fundamental premise of combination therapy: one agent to kill from the outside-in and another to kill from the inside-out.