Targeting MYC with protein drugs.

After cardiovascular disease, cancer is our biggest killer. The "war on cancer" officially launched in 1971; despite decades of research and development, our arsenal of drugs against cancer still comprises mainly small molecules. Protein drugs, however, are poised to become the foundation for next-generation drugs that target MYC, a proto-oncogene that encodes the MYC transcription factor involved in the majority of human cancers. Such protein drugs work inside the cell in the nucleus, where they interact directly with the genome or can partner with MYC to blunt its detrimental activities. No small-molecule drug has been successful against MYC, but protein drug Omomyc has successfully inhibited solid tumors in human trials. Although MYC is a key regulator of normal cellular processes, we need to develop new tactics to contain MYC when it goes rogue.