A cancer researcher has predicted that drug treatments focussing on small molecule and biological therapies will increasingly replace chemotherapy.
Michelle Garrett, Professor of Cancer Therapeutics, who joined the University in the autumn of 2014, says World Cancer Day (4 February) marks a period when rapid advances in drug treatments are changing the face of cancer treatment. Professor Garrett has been involved in the development of two molecular targeted drugs now in clinical trial.
Professor Garrett commented: ‘Cancer is not a new disease. There are descriptions dating back to Egyptian times in 1700 BC of tumours being removed, as discovered in the Edwin Smith Papyrus. In contrast to Egyptian times however, we now know that cancer is caused by faults in the DNA of a cell, leading to division of that cell running out of control.
‘Now that scientists have a clearer idea of the way in which cells are constructed and how cell division is controlled, the development of new drug treatments for cancer are focusing much more on targeted small molecule and biological therapies rather than chemotherapy.
‘Much research, including mine here at the University, is focussing on ways to identify those patients who will benefit from these new cancer drugs – and on what mechanisms of drug resistance may occur, before they arise in the clinic.’
Professor Garrett has been involved in the discovery of a number of new molecular targeted cancer drugs, including AT13148 and AZD5363, which are both currently in clinical trial.
Professor Garrett joined the University’s School of Biosciences from the Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit, at the Institute of Cancer Research, London. Her research has specialised in the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. See more on Professor Garrett’s research at: http://www.kent.ac.uk/bio/profiles/staff/garrett.html.