Dr. Nam Hoang Dang, chief of hematological malignancies for the Nevada Cancer Institute, has devoted his 24-year career to developing a drug that attacks a specific cell involved in certain cancers. He has found a drug that he believes will be a superior treatment for mesothelioma, kidney cancer and T-cell lymphoma. While still a graduate and medical student at Harvard University, Dr. Dang found a certain molecule called CD26 that is important in the development of these cancers and developed an antibody to it that he believes will be able to destroy the cancers. The drug, which he calls simply anti-CD26 antibody, has been effective in laboratory and animal testing. And such targeted treatment is also much easier on the body than chemotherapy, which attacks both healthy and cancerous tissues.
Unlike most drugs, which attack already identified targets, Dr. Dang’s work has identified a new potentially valuable target in fighting these cancers: CD26. While it makes the trial somewhat more risky, it also has greater potential to advance science.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug for Phase I clinical testing, which will allow Dr. Dang to determine whether the drug is safe and effective for humans. Phase I clinical trials are the first step toward FDA approval, a process that can take years. FDA officials report that, in the end, only one in five drugs is approved for use by the FDA.
For the full story, go to the Las Vegas Sun.
