Cancer Researcher Awarded $1 Million Prize

Alexander Varshavsky, a researcher who plans to develop new cancer drugs based on the DNA missing from tumor cells, has been named the first recipient of the $1 million Gotham Prize for Cancer Research. The award is designed to encourage innovative approaches to cancer research, and Varshavsky’s proposed treatment certainly fits the bill. His new approach involves developing a drug that can enter a cell, analyze whether a cancer-specific DNA deletion is present, and attack only those cells that it "decides" are cancerous. Many conventional cancer treatments attack both healthy and cancerous cells indiscriminately, and the side effects of such treatments can be particularly damaging.