New leukemia drug avoids side-effects

October 15, 2013

Clinical trials of the antibody, known as KB004, have produced no side-effects even at high doses. And while the trials are designed to test the drug’s safety, some patients – most of whom have acute myeloid leukemia, one of the most untreatable forms – have already responded positively. The drug targets a protein called EphA3 which clings to cancer stem cells but is undetectable on normal cells. Conventional chemotherapy does not target stem cells, according to molecular biologist Martin Lackmann, who has researched the protein for 15 years. (The Australian)