SCIENCE
SCIENTISTS ARE TAKING AN UNUSUALLY SIMPLE APPROACH TO TREATING cancer: forget about killing the cells, just stop them from spreading. Patients who get surgery, chemotherapy or radiation can relapse if malignant cells remain and eventually metastasize—i.e., migrate—to other parts of the body. An international team, led by Dr. Raymond Bergan at Oregon Health and Science University, devised a way of crippling cancer cells by attacking the proteins that enable movement. Their invention, a molecule called KBU2046, attaches to the cells and freezes them in place. The molecule seems to work on breast, prostate, colon and lung cancers, but so far only in petri dishes. The next step: human clinical trials, which the researchers say will take about two years and cost $5 million.