'PARP' drug sabotages DNA repair in pre-leukemic cells
Monday, December 12, 2011 - 16:31
in Health & Medicine
Looking for ways to halt the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells, scientists at Johns Hopkins have found that a new class of drugs, called PARP inhibitors, may block the ability of pre-leukemic cells to repair broken bits of their own DNA, causing these cells to self-destruct. Results of their experiments, expected to be presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego, Dec. 12, have already prompted clinical trials of the drugs in patients with aggressive pre-leukemic conditions, who have few treatment options.