Oncology
Development of a New Class of Cancer Drugs that Target a Newly Discovered Molecular Pathway
2017 Harrington Scholar-Innovator
The Field lab has discovered a molecular pathway that involves a protein, GOLPH3, which promotes tumor growth and survival. Dr. Field's team have demonstrated that inhibiting GOLPH3 with various small molecules prevents tumor growth and kills cancer cells.
With guidance from the Harrington Discovery Institute's Innovation Support Center, Dr. Field and his team aim to determine how their small molecules inhibit GOLPH3, prove their efficacy against cancer cells and screen additional small molecules to identify those with the greatest potential to be advanced.
“Our data from the lab demonstrate that interfering with GOLPH3 preferentially kills cancer cells. But getting from there to human beings is a long way.” “A home run would be developing a drug that saves people's lives. If we could impact even a subset of patients, that would be great.”
“New drugs and what we learn along the way are powerful tools that help us understand cancer and can lead to new ways of thinking about cancer and its treatment.”
Source: Article from 2017-18 Annual Publication.