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Question ID: WS-68
Submitted by: Sunnie Kim
February 27, 2011

BACKGROUND: Cancer is a moving target because its progression can bring about new mutations from increasing chromosomal instability and create a diverse population of cells. Yet we know, while some individual cancers carry hundreds of mutations, others seem to have very few genomic changes. Moreover, a relatively small number of mutations are detected significantly higher in frequency than all others including in individual cancers that carry few mutations overall. Does this small number of mutations or its subset at the onset seal the outcome of malignancy? If so, can treatments which target these higher frequency and often identical mutations in genes such as CDKN2A, TP53, and PTEN provide cure in cases of certain early stage cancers? Therapeutics which selectively targets a single biological mechanism or an antigen may miss some “drivers” of the cancer present in a patient today and that may exist tomorrow. So while tackling cancer early when there are few mutations has the best chance of success for a cure, to bring about a cure, eliminating every cancer- driving effects and their sources may be required. This approach seems if not impossible certainly very difficult to achieve. A simpler path, if it can be found, would be to identify a common denominator of all cancer cells that can be used to destroy each and every cancer cells. A common denominator that identifies all cancer cells to be the same yet different from normal healthy cells― whether it may be plasma membrane potential, other electrical property, any other physical, biochemical, or molecular qualities of cancer cells exclusively. FEASIBILITY: From this, for example, smart nanoparticles designed and fabricated to sense and recognize electrical property of different cell membranes and can selectively destroy cancer cells may be investigated. IMPLICATIONS: Ultimately bring about cure for cancer.

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