Professor Shimon Gatt and Dr. Arie Dagan from Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical School - Department of Biochemistry,
pioneered a novel drug type for treating cancer. These anti-cancer medications can start apoptosis (death of a cell) in specific sells, and can therefore, be used to kill cancerous cells. Because these artificially synthesized drug molecules target specific cells, there will also be fewer instances of adverse side effects from these drugs. The mechanism entails controlling the functions of sphingolipids, which are a type of highly complex lipids. Sphingolipids monitor pathways of signals that affect a cell’s growth, and death. Many of these molecules are focused on ceramides, which are a type of sphingolipids. On administration of these
atineoplastic drugs, the levels of cermides increases in the cells, leading to apoptosis. These drugs have been successfully tried on breast, prostrate, and pancreatic cancers.