Manufactured "waste management enzyme" induces apoptosis in chemotherapy-resistant cancers.

Many anti-cancer therapies work by using the body's own pathways to trigger programmed cell death (apoptosis). Many cancers, however, become resistant to anti-cancer drugs by modifying downstream events. Researchers of an article presented in Cancer Gene Therapy, however, have created a genetically engineered "waste management enzyme" that triggers apoptosis via a mechanism independent of the normal signaling pathway. This enzyme, a modified version of DNase1, was shown to induce apoptosis in cancer cells resistant to other anti-cancer drugs.  The authors suggest that the modified enzyme might be useful in treating drug-resistant cancers.