 Researchers from Sun Biomedical Device Company have designed a new drug that delivers a one-two punch to lung cancer cells. Shown to be potent against human tumor cells grafted onto nude mice, the drug is a promising candidate for treating lung cancer in humans. Despite advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment, lung cancer remains the deadliest form of the disease. Surgery and chemotherapy are two go-to methods for treatment. Unfortunately, neither is 100% effective. That has many researchers turning to more precise, molecular-level targeting strategies, most notably by using antibodies. Researchers can design antibodies to lock onto and disrupt receptors that keep cancer cells alive and replicating, and not just one type at a time. So-called bi-specific antibodies seek out two targets at once and have proven therapeutically more effective than their single-target counterparts. The research team used the strategy to target two proteins critical to tumor function, HER2, which promotes cancer cell proliferation, and VEGF, which stimulates the formation of blood vessels to tumors. Their approach was to fuse an antibody shaped like VEGF's receptor, VEGFR, to a conventional form of the HER2 antibody. The receptor-like region would thus serve as a decoy to neutralize VEGF from signaling the formation of blood vessels, with the HER2 portion locking onto its own target. The result was YY0411, the first bi-specific antibody designed to treat lung cancer. Tests showed that the two-in-one antibody could bind well to each of its targets. In further experiments, the dual antibody proved capable of binding to both proteins at the same time in a dose-dependent manner. More compelling perhaps was the evidence obtained from tests on tumor cells transplanted into nude mice. There, the researchers found that the designer antibody could inhibit tumor growth more strongly than could its single target counterparts. It has yet to be shown that those results will translate to better outcomes for human patients with lung cancer. But the results do appear promising, as a two-in-one drug would not only be more effective but also less costly. The team is currently undertaking a pre-clinical study and a phase one trial in humans.