Driving cancer beyond the brink

Abstract

Like the army of White Walkers who march haltingly across the tundra in the HBO series “Game of Thrones,” cancer cells trudge along in a menacing, but hobbled, state. The same genetic defects that help them proliferate also render them vulnerable to attack. Find the right molecule for the right weak point, and it’s like charging the White Walkers with knives made of dragonglass: They’re done for. For several decades, small-molecule cancer drug researchers have dug for dragonglass among the kinases. By designing small molecules that can “turn off” kinase enzymes stuck in the “on” position, they have managed to ward off cancer’s attack. More recently, scientists have focused on ways to help the body’s own immune cells seek and destroy cancer cells. But those approaches haven’t cured all cancers. Immunotherapy, while fantastically effective for some people, doesn’t work for everyone. And many of the best-known causes of cancer remain