Document Actions
Next generation of 'smart' drugs
Houston scientists find innovative ways to trick body's defenses, target tumors
By ERIC BERGER
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Just 1 percent of the typical cancer drug that enters the body ends up in its intended target, a tumor.
The rest is either whacked by the body's defenses or allowed to go on a rampage destroying healthy tissue. As most cancer patients will attest, this traditional system of treatment is inefficient — at best.
But as scientists have deepened their understanding of the intricate workings inside the body's cells, they have begun developing "smart" drugs that ferry medicine directly to the doorstep of cancer cells.