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The benefit of science TODAY

Molecular-targeted medicine at the turn of the 21st century

   
2010, Április 28. 12:03, Author: Richard Schwab, Istvan Petak

The emergence of molecular-targeted medicine at the turn of the 21st century brought a breakthrough in the personalized treatment of tumors and inflammations, comparable only to the discovery of penicillin. At the turn of the nineteenth century infectious diseases were treated with “poisons” like Mercury in order to block multiplication of hostile cells, until technology has allowed specific targeting of bacteria with practically no interference with the human organism.

 

The development of tumors is caused by mutations in genes regulating the mechanism to multiply or to commit suicide. The first proof that inhibiting the mutant gene product by a pharmaceutical drug can eradicate cancer came from experience with chronic myeloid leukemia where piece of DNA is translocated from on chromosome to the other. The result is the fusion of two genes which produces an abnormal protein. The drug which inhibits this abnormal protein is extremely effective in this type of cancer which contains this mutant gene in most cases. This gene mutations and its abnormal protein product is present in 5% of acute myeloid leukemia too. Not surprisingly, the same drug is effective against this subset of tumors as well. This means that not the tumor type, but the presence of the particular gene mutation determines if the targeted drug will be effective. This also sparked a realization that tumors should not be described based on the part of the human body and tissue they originate from, but on the harmful genes that are main cause of their growth.

 

Although this approach seams very logical, it is still not widely accepted, not even in peak scientific circles. The main reason is that most doctors think that they should use the drug which has been proven to be the best for the treatment of the type of disease the patient has in general. Instead of asking the question which drug would be the best for the particular patient. The answer to these questions are not always the same drug.

 

There are underlying reasons of the delay in the application of these scientific advances from a market perspective. In case of lung cancer, a disease which most likely to result in death, a certain molecular-targeted drug can only be used in roughly 10% of patients whose tumor contains the diseased gene the drug targets. However, there are immense need of resources and finances to develop a drug, and even though the success rate in the study group is around 100%, drug-makers are prone to lose the remaining 90% of their markets in the same tumor type. Thereby, it is clear that the fight against tumor diseases will not only be a matter of science, but also an issue concerning the economy, the industry, and society as such. We have to understand that the medical biotechnology sector must be prepared for rapid utilization of scientific achievements. Fortunately, now we have technologies to detect this cancer causing mutations even small tumor samples in molecular pathology lab. There is a new sector within medical biotechnology which focusing on the molecular diagnostics of biomarkers predicting which drug will be the most effective in the particular patient. In order to advance medicine and provide the already established findings for patients suffering from terminal diseases now, we need far better communication between doctors, researchers and the pharmaceutical industry.

Hungary, based on its traditions, its knowledge base and its existing pharmaceutical industry, has the opportunity to be among the leaders in this revolution of medical sciences. However, without unity and cooperation, these goals cannot be achieved.

 

The target could be in any of our cells. Maybe it’s already there.

 

(published in the biweekly Hungarian magazine Budapest Business Journal)



Forum

Gyulladásos bélbetegségek Sziasztok,Ja igen, Tihany!Majdnem
2010, Június 24. 16:28 Csizkat

Gyulladásos bélbetegségek hmm, azert az rendjen van,
2010, Június 20. 21:39 Richard

Gyulladásos bélbetegségek Ezek olyan dolgok, hogy
2010, Június 14. 09:55 chysh