Research team cites new cancer approach

A Korean research team has reported two advancements in the development of anti-cancer drugs. It said it has found a way to overcome obstacles to using a known anti-cancer substance and said it has developed a cancer drug that selectively attacks cancer cells. Byeon Yeong-ro, a professor at the Kwang Ju Institute of Science and Technology, said yesterday that his research team has used a time-delay capsule containing retinoic acid to reduce the growth of cancers in laboratory mice by 50 percent. Retinoic acid has been known since 1990 to be effective in suppressing the spread of cancerous cells, but the medication dissipated too quickly in the human body to be an effective medication in cancer treatments. Clinical tests of the new technique have begun, Mr. Byeon said. He added that his team’s animal tests have proven the value of an anti-cancer medicine his team developed in selectively attacking cancer cells. The technique involves coating the medication with a substance that is dissolved by an enzyme that cancerous cells produce. The drug inside then attacks the cancer. by Shim Jae-woo