BET Inhibitors Are Promising Anti-Cancer Drugs That Have Not Delivered In Human Trials, But Scientists Believe They May Have Discovered Why

Summary: Scientists have been puzzled by a type of cancer drug called BET inhibitors. These drugs worked great in the lab at stopping cancer cells, but they failed when tested on humans. Now, researchers think they know why. The drugs were attacking two different proteins, BRD2 and BRD4, at the exact same time.

Scientists realized these proteins actually do very different jobs. BRD2 is like a stage manager setting up the show, while BRD4 is the actor. By attacking both blindly, the drugs didn't work right. Now, scientists believe that if they specifically target the "stage manager" (BRD2) and stop it from setting up the stage, they can finally stop the cancer from growing in future human trials.

For more details, see rssapp-iflscience-com at iflscience.com/these-promising-cancer-drugs-kept-failing-in-trials-and-now-scientists-think-theyve-figured-out-why-83146 (opens in new tab)