03/05/2025
Stanford scientists trick cancer cells into killing themselves
Stanford scientists have found a smart way to make cancer cells destroy themselves, using the body's natural cell death process called apoptosis. Every day, our bodies safely remove around 60 billion cells, and researchers figured out how to make cancer cells do the same thing. They created a synthetic molecule that links two proteins: BCL6, which normally keeps death genes off in lymphoma cells, and CDK9, an enzyme that switches genes on. This forced the cancer cells to trigger their own death without harming other healthy cells.
In lab tests, the molecule killed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cells with incredible precision and no serious side effects in healthy mice. Even after testing on 859 different cancer types, it only targeted the intended lymphoma cells. This method could also lower the chance of cancer developing resistance, since it attacks the cells on multiple fronts at once. Instead of shutting cancer proteins down, it flips their role to trigger death. Researchers hope this breakthrough leads to new treatments for lymphoma and possibly other stubborn cancers like those linked to the Ras gene.
