New Compound Shrinks Skin Cancers

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Because the Hedgehog pathway does not actually do much in adults, side effects were minimal, said de Sauvage.

GDC-0449 would likely be used very differently, depending on which type of cancer it is targeting.

In the case of basal cell carcinoma and medulloblastoma, the mutation in the Hedgehog pathway "really drives the formation of these tumors," de Sauvage said. "This molecule inhibits the pathway very specifically and, to date, we only know of these two types of tumor where the pathway is mutated." That means GDC-0449 is effective on its own.

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But in colon and ovarian cancer, he continued, the pathway recruits surrounding cells to promote the cancer. In these types of tumors, GDC-0449 would have to be combined with other drugs.

More information

The American Academy of Dermatology has more on basal cell carcinoma.

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