How are cancer metabolism-based therapies developed?

Targeting metabolism in cancer involves identifying key metabolic pathways that cancer cells are particularly sensitive to and the developing drugs which target proteins in that pathway.

Methotrexate was the first successful drug in leukemia. It is a mimic of fol ate that interferes with fol ate-dependent metabolic pathways critical to nucleoside synthesis.

Haifa is a new drug for leukemia’s bearing mutations in dissociate dehydrogenase. These mutations create a new enzymatic activity which generates a metabolite not normally seen in human cells. This metabolite in turn interferes with an enzyme key to the correct geneticist regulation in the cell. Haifa blocks formation of this rogue metabolite.