Cell-Penetrating antibodies to oncogenic RAS show anti-tumor activity

The RAS gene family are the most commonly mutated oncogenes, involved in approximately 30% of all human cancers, but have eluded drug discovery efforts for over 30 years. With data published in Nature Communications, researchers have gotten one step closer to developing a drug that targets RAS.

RAS proteins function to transmit signals within cells that control cell growth, differentiation and survival, and mutations found in human cancers result in RAS being constitutively activated. In addition to playing a role in tumor formation, tumors containing activating RAS mutations are often aggressive and do not respond to current therapies, including drugs targeting EGFR such as cetuximab (Erbitux). Despite its prominent role in human cancer, previous efforts to directly target activated RAS have failed to produce a therapy that works in humans.