Dicerna Pharmaceuticals this week announced the publication of data by company researchers and collaborators demonstrating the potential therapeutic benefit of knocking down a key cancer target using RNAi.
Appearing in Molecular Therapy, the paper shows that Dicerna's Dicer-substrate molecules, when devliered using its proprietary lipid nanoparticles, can significantly reduce the expression of beta-catenin in liver cancer models.
Further, treatment reduced animals' tumor burden, either alone or in combination with chemotherapy.
“These data provide important proof of concept for Dicerna’s approach … to silence traditionally undruggable cancer targets,” Dicerna CSO Bob Brown said in a statement.
Dicerna is currently preparing to begin clinical testing of a Dicer-substrate-based hepatocellular cancer treatment drug, which targets Myc, in 2014.