Melbourne researchers have discovered a new way of triggering cell death, in a finding that could lead to drugs to treat cancer and autoimmune disease. Programmed cell death, also called apoptosis, is a natural process that removes unwanted cells from the body. Failure of apoptosis can allow cancer cells to grow unchecked or immune cells to inappropriately attack the body. The protein known as Bak is central to apoptosis. In healthy cells Bak sits in an inert state but when a cell receives a signal to die, Bak transforms into a killer protein that destroys the cell. Institute researchers Dr Sweta Iyer, Dr Ruth Kluck and colleagues have discovered a novel way of directly activating Bak to trigger cell death. http://www.wehi.edu.au/news/scientists-uncover-potential-trigger-kill-cancer Paper: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160524/ncomms11734/full/ncomms11734.html
Now this is a double edged sword. If it triggers Bak in all cells, the patient is dead. How to aim it at only the cancer cells? I hope the antibody that they used can be modified to bind to Bak only in cancerous cells ... at the moment we have a new weapon, but can't aim it. I think that will be a crucial step, but good to know that there is a new way of cancer treatment in research, a much more direct way to attack cancer cells.
Perhaps a "weaked Bak" can be made. For example 2Gy of radiation from an IMRT machine badly injures cells, both cancer and normal cells; but cancer cells have much less ability to self repair, so 37 days of that may free you from cancer, with little perment danage.
Would it not be necessary that the antibody recognize the cancerous cell is a foreign cell then since Bak is attached to it it will initiate the apoptosis in the cancerous cell ?
That's what we currently have as chemotherapy. A poison that kills cancer cells slightly faster than the other cells, and so over time can reduce them. I hope for something more specific. An antibody which can recognize a cancer cell, and bind to Bak at full effect for just these cells. That would minimize side effects and kill cancer cells very reliably. Imagine, a few cancer cells can withstand the "weakened Bak". All the other cancer cells will die, but exactly these more resistantant ones will continue to spread. That's very likely not what the patient wants.