‘We will soon have a cure for cancers’ states the Daily Express yesterday, but behind the media’s bold headline scientists in question are actually far more cautious when reporting on their own laboratory research.
The study which was reported on yesterday by the eagerly hopeful newspaper, is looking at a gene called WWP2 which is present in every human cell in the body. This gene can produce a group of different proteins that in turn regulate other proteins that normally prevent tumours from spreading. The idea we all want to hear is that eventually laboratories will be able to change this process through the use of certain drugs or antibodies to cure all cancers, however at this early stage it can be reported that no such drug has been found. The study however did not actually show the spreading action of the cancer cells and instead featured a complex range of tests examining the proteins and genes involved in the spreading of cancers.
Research is constantly being conducted into the antibodies and drugs required to eventually ‘cure cancers’ and one of the leading pharmaceutical companies quick to announce they are working on a possible cure is Sanofi-Aventis. The drug manufacturer have signed a deal with Oxford BioTherapeutics to license, develop, manufacture and commercialise the antibody drug which will form therapeutic products that attach to tumour cells in a highly targeted manner.
To finalise, further investigation into cancer and tumour cells is required to see the importance of these proteins in cancer. With the newspaper keen to imply that a cure for cancer is shortly available, a more realistic view to take is that important research is currently being conducted but it is still very preliminary in its nature.