A small team of Israeli scientists are claiming that they will have the first ‘complete cure’ for cancer within a year, according to Forbes.
Citing an article published in the Jerusalem Post on Monday, Forbes are relaying some incredibly exciting claims made by the scientists which, if correct, could change the world of medicine as we know it.
Not only is it purported that the cure for cancer will be ready within a year, but also that it will be cheap, brief and come with little to no side-effects …
Dan Aridor, chairman of the board of Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies Ltd. (AEBi), said: “We believe we will offer in a year’s time a complete cure for cancer.”
AEBi, founded in 2000 and located in Rehovot, Israel, is a development-stage biopharmaceutical company working toward the discovery and development of therapeutic peptides.
The claim
“Our cancer cure will be effective from day one, will last a duration of a few weeks and will have no or minimal side-effects at a much lower cost than most other treatments on the market,” Aridor said.
“Our solution will be both generic and personal.”
The drug, called MuTaTo (multi-target toxin) is described as essentially an antibiotic for cancer. The Jerusalem Post say that MuTaTo is based on AEBi’s SoAp technology. The article reads: “Scientists introduce DNA coding for a protein, such as an antibody, into a bacteriophage – a virus that infects bacteria. The protein is then displayed on the surface of the phage. Researchers can use these protein-displaying phages to screen for interactions with other proteins, DNA sequences and small molecules.”
According to the outlet, AEBi is conducting similar work to the team of scientists who won the Nobel Prize last year for their work on phage display in the directed evolution of new proteins.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) estimates that cancer contributed to some 9.6 million deaths in 2018, while 1 in 5 men and 1 in 6 women will develop cancer at some point in their lives. The disease is the second leading cause of death, behind only cardiovascular disease.
How it works
Dr. Ilan Morad, CEO of AEBi, told the Jerusalem Post: “Inhibiting the target usually affects a physiological pathway that promotes cancer. Mutations in the targets – or downstream in their physiological pathways – could make the targets not relevant to the cancer nature of the cell, and hence the drug attacking it is rendered ineffective.
“In contrast, MuTaTo is using a combination of several cancer-targeting peptides for each cancer cell at the same time, combined with a strong peptide toxin that would kill cancer cells specifically,” Morad said. “By using at least three targeting peptides on the same structure with a strong toxin, we made sure that the treatment will not be affected by mutations; cancer cells can mutate in such a way that targeted receptors are dropped by the cancer.
“The probability of having multiple mutations that would modify all targeted receptors simultaneously decreases dramatically with the number of targets used. Instead of attacking receptors one at a time, we attack receptors three at a time – not even cancer can mutate three receptors at the same time.”
As well as likening the MuTaTo drug to the triple drug cocktail that has significantly impacted the mortality rate of sufferers of AIDS, Morad says that eventually the cancer treatment will be designed specifically for each patient.
What’s more, patients would likely be able to stop taking MuTaTo after just a few weeks, as opposed to having to use the drug for the rest of their lives.
Incredibly exciting news, I think we can all admit!
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