Biotech Values

[biomaven0]

Kinase inhibitors are currently the best we have in terms of treating cancer. A drug like Gleevec and the 2nd/3rd gen follow-ons have transformed a uniformly fatal disease into a chronic one, where patients now have a relatively normal life expectancy.

Right now we don't have any drugs that target cancer stem cells. By their very nature, stem cells are hardier than differentiated cells, and they don't multiply quickly, so standard chemo doesn't work on them either. There is also a needle in a haystack problem - cancer stem cells make up only a very small proportion of tumor cells.

And just as its hard to target cancer cells without also destroying regular cells, it will be hard to target cancer stem cells without also destroying your own normal stem cells.

Peter