How cancer starts: how a normal cell turns into cancer
Targeted therapy: why a tumour can come back after a drug that works
In 2011, a pill that blocks one jammed accelerator shrank melanomas in about half of the people who took it. In most of them, the tumours grew back within months. Why does a drug that works stop working?
-
1
Many melanomas copy because of a jammed BRAF, like the cells of Rono's mole. Rono needed no drug: his was cut out early. For melanomas that have spread, a pill arrived in 2011 that fits the jammed BRAF and blocks it. The pedal is still jammed, but its message stops there. This is targeted therapy.
-
2
In about half of the people who took it, the tumours shrank, often within weeks.
The rest of this episode is for subscribers
Subscribe to read every premium episode. You can cancel when you want.
Paid yearly: $99 instead of $119.88