Cancer Drug Discovery Database Goes 3D; Check out the Latest in Cancer Treatment Here!

The biggest cancer drug discovery database has been rendered in 3D which allows scientists to more effectively design life-saving cancer treatments, according to a study.

The canSAR database has been updated and scientists working in the UK and all around the world will be able to use it more efficiently by being able to design new cancer treatments better with the help of "3D structures of faulty proteins and maps of cancer's communication networks," according to a press release posted in EurekAlert.

The canSAR database is developed at The Institute of Cancer Research London by Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit researchers. It was launched in 2011 and is growing and free to use for researchers world wide. The updated database now has 3D structures of millions of cavities on the surface of more than 100,000 molecules.

"Our database is constantly growing with information and is the largest of its kind - with more than 140,000 users from over 175 countries. And we regularly develop new artificial intelligence technologies that help scientists make predictions and design experiments," said Dr. Bissan Al-Lazikani, lead researcher of the team that developed the database. "Our aim is that cancer scientists will be armed with the data they need to carry out life-saving research into the most exciting drugs of the future.

"Scientists need to find all the information there is about a faulty gene or protein to understand whether a new drug might work. These data are vast and scattered, but the canSAR database brings them together and adds value by identifying hidden links and presenting the key information easily," he explained, via Cancer Research UK.

Another expert added that the canSAR database can cut costs and expedite the processes in drug discovery. This can lead to potentially saving more lives because the advances can help bring life-saving therapies to patients faster.

In another news, resistant lung cancer with mutations in gene known as KRAS can be eraducated through triple cancer therapy by involving two cancer drugs and radiation therapy. The study published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research also states that researchers may also identify non-small cell lung cancer patients (deemed the most common type of lung cancer) who can benefit from the experimental triple therapy.

According to the report by Business Standard, the therapy is under clinical trial and the cancer drugs were originally made for melanoma cancer and those with solid tumors, said lead researcher Bo Lu, professor at Thomas Jefferson University.