Think Pinker

Now that I’ve got your attention with two headed monsters, there’s some exciting news about in the works with two headed antibodies. According to Science Daily the British Journal of Cancer published some findings this month on the benefits of using more aggressive drugs and distributing them directly on the cancer cells.

ALM is the nickname given to this exciting molecule. Naturally occurring antibodies will bind only to a specific target, where as ALM is able to attach itself to two separate targets. It signals ErbB2 and ErbB3, two proteins associated with promoting growth on the surface of breast cancer cells.

ALM blocks the growth signal in the cells so the tumors don’t continue to grow. Her2 and Her 3 are two cancer genes and ErbB2 and ErbB3 are protein products from those cancer genes. Worse they are very aggressive and so after the initial treatments they can rapidly reappear. The ALM or two headed antibody stops that from happening. That means a woman’s risk is substantially decreased when this double headed beauty comes to your rescue.

It’s really quite interesting to stay abreast of what is happening in breast cancer research and studies. On a regular basis we hear about new discoveries and possible new treatments and this is one of those exciting times.

In a perfect world breast cancer would no longer exist. We aren’t there yet, but with more and more research we will be there someday – soon hopefully!

However, when it comes to ALM it’s important not to get your hopes too high – for although it can stop cancer cells from growing (and that is very important), and it may even be able to stop them from spreading (also very important), it only does a modest job of actually killing cancer cells. ALM may bet the start of brighter times in breast cancer treatments.