Chemotherapy works off of a basic premise: kill all rapidly-growing cells in an effort to wipe out tumor cells. The tactic, while generally effective, has quite a few off-target casualties, including cells that produce hair and cells that line the stomach.
Scientists have tried to skirt the problem by creating missile-like drugs that zero in on cancer cells specifically, sparing healthy cells.
These missile-like drugs, known as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), have been in the works for decades, but only in recent years have they made it to clinical trials, Kimberly Tsui, a genetics graduate student, told me.
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