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December 23, 2009 > New agent discovered for certain drug-resistant lung cancers
Nathanael S. Gray, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ‘08-‘10) and colleagues at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, identified a new agent that can act on non-small cell lung cancers that have become resistant to the drugs Iressa® and Tarceva®. Each of these drugs targets a protein called the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase, which promotes cell growth. The new compound, WZ4002, is highly specific for the form of EGFR in cancer cells while not affecting normal healthy cells; for this reason, the compound is less likely to produce side effects. In the future, this compound may be an effective treatment for lung cancer patients. These findings were published in the journal Nature.