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Abbott's Preclinical Oncology Pipeline May Help Advance Fight Against Cancer

  

263 molecule

Preclinical data has shown that ABT-263 (Abbott's Bcl-2 family protein inhibitors) bind to Bcl-2 proteins, restoring cell death to cancerous cells.

Researchers now know that cancer cells have several unique characteristics: they require new blood vessels to deliver oxygen and nutrients; they grow uncontrollably; they travel throughout the body; and they escape programmed cell death, a natural process by which the body rids itself of damaged or unwanted cells. Robust preclinical data has shown that several compounds in Abbott's oncology pipeline may interfere with these processes.

Positive data on two such Abbott compounds, ABT-263 and ABT-888, was presented by both independent and Abbott scientists at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, held April 14-18 in Los Angeles, California.

Discovered by Abbott scientists and currently in clinical development, ABT-263 may correct defects in cancer cells that allow them to escape programmed death.

Also developed by Abbott researchers, ABT-888 may help prevent DNA repair in cancer cells, thereby increasing the effectiveness of common cancer therapies such as radiation and alkylating agents.

 

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