Experimental chemotherapy uses stealth tactic to activate inside cancer cells

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UC Irvine researchers are developing an experimental chemotherapy drug designed to activate only inside cancer cells, aiming to spare healthy tissues from damage. This stealth tactic involves a safety lock mechanism that triggers drug activation in the presence of specific protein activities found in cancer cells.

Chemotherapy faces a fundamental problem: The same drugs powerful enough to kill cancer cells can also damage healthy tissue. UC Irvine researchers are trying to change that equation by putting a safety lock on a highly potent cancer drug—a lock designed to be removed once the drug enters cancer cells with high levels of a specific protein-destroying activity.