(CBS Local) — Israeli scientists claim they may be on the brink of finding the cure for cancer, The Jerusalem Post reports.
“We believe we will offer in a year’s time a complete cure for cancer,” said Dan Aridor, chairman of the board of Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies Ltd., which is developing the new treatment.
The treatment, which they call MuTaTo, or multi-target toxin, acts as a “cancer antibiotic” and uses a combination of cancer-targeting peptides (amino acid chains) and a toxin that specifically kills cancer cells.
Most cancer drugs attack a specific target on, or in the cancer cell, said AEBi CEO Dr. Ilan Morad. They fail because that target mutates, changing to divide and spread and avoid attack. But Morad claims MuTaTo “will not be affected by mutations” because the treatment attacks at least three targets at a time.
“Instead of attacking receptors one at a time, we attack receptors three at a time, Morad told The Jerusalem Post. “Not even cancer can mutate three receptors at the same time.”
Newsweek argues, however, there are several reasons to be skeptical about the cancer cure claim.
"That simplistic description is unsatisfying. Cancer is complicated on many levels–biology, prevention, diagnosis and treatment," writes Henry I. Miller.
In addition, Miller argues that tests and treatments on rodents, like this study carried out on mice, don't often translate well to humans.
But Morad also said MuTaTo is also strong enough to both destroy stem cells and penetrate where other drugs cannot reach. He says it will dramatically decrease side effects because it does not target non-cancerous cells as current cancer drugs do.
The treatment will eventually be personalized and a specific cocktail of the drugs will be given to patients based on their type of cancer, said Dr. Morad.
“Our cancer cure will be effective from day one, will last a duration of a few weeks and will have no or minimal side-effects at a much lower cost than most other treatments on the market,” said Aridor. “Our solution will be both generic and personal.”
AEBi says it has successfully tested the drug in mice. The company now plans to move forward with clinical trials and make the treatment available within a few years.
U.S. cancer experts say this announcement is way too soon. Even if the treatment translates from mice to humans, it can take more than 10 years for an experimental drug to make it to market.
So while this could be good news, it's way too early to celebrate.