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Nature 425, 357-359 (25 September 2003) | doi:10.1038/425357a

Open Innovation Challenges

Cancer: The rules of attraction

Len Neckers1 & Yong-Sok Lee2

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The puzzle of how a drug that binds to a protein found in normal cells as well as cancer cells preferentially kills tumours is now solved — the target protein exists in a drug-binding complex in tumour cells.

Targeting a specific protein or a single signalling pathway that is required for the survival of tumour cells but not normal cells would seem to be a promising anticancer strategy. Unfortunately, few such unique targets exist, and it is becoming clear that inhibiting a single pathway might not be enough to tackle cancers that result from several genetic abnormalities.

  1. Len Neckers is in the Urologic Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
  2. Yong-Sok Lee is in the Center for Molecular Modelling, Center for Information Technology, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.

Correspondence to: Len Neckers1 Email: len@helix.nih.gov