Computers hone cancer-fighting strategies

TALLAHASSEE, Ill., July 7 (UPI) -- A U.S. scientist says he's using computational techniques to evaluate a new class of cancer-killing drugs.

Florida State University Assistant Professor Kevin Chen says he is determining how substances known as recombinant immunotoxins can be modified to attack and kill malignant tumors while doing minimal harm to healthy cells.

"Cancer is a disease of tremendous complexity, so the analysis and interpretation of data demands sophisticated, specialized computational methods," Chen said, explaining recombinant immunotoxins consist of tiny fragments of antibody proteins that are fused at the genetic level to toxins produced by certain types of bacteria, fungi or plants.

"Once injected into the body, the antibody portion of the immunotoxin targets specific proteins, called antigens, that are massively expressed on the surface of cancer cells," Chen said. "These cells are subsequently killed by the accompanying toxins. Normal, healthy cells, meanwhile, are not recognized and thus are spared.

The study that included postdoctoral researchers Junho Kim and Xinmei Li and molecular biologist Byungkook Lee of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., appeared in the March issue of the journal Annals of Biomedical Engineering.