Aptamers for Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy

The role of aptamers in cancer therapy

There are two major applications for aptamers in cancer therapy. Aptamers can be used as antagonists by targeting and inhibiting cancer-specific molecules. They can also be used as delivery vehicles for therapeutics by specifically targeting cell membrane receptors on cancer cells. In this application, aptamer-drug conjugates bind to and are internalised by cancer cells while avoiding damage to healthy cells.

AMSBIO offer an extensive range of aptamers targeting many human proteins linked to cancer. Aptamers bind to target molecules with the same affinity and specificity as antibodies but offer significant advantages, in particular a lack of immunogenicity, which makes them an ideal tool for cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Aptamers also have enormous potential for use in cancer diagnostics. They can be used to identify cancer cells and recognise cancer biomarkers, cancer metabolites and differentiating cells as well as molecules that affect tumour behaviour. New aptamer-based technologies such as cell-SLEX are increasingly being used to screen for aptamers that bind to cancer cell-surface protein biomarkers as they overcome the traditional shortfalls of mass spectrometry and antibody-based methods - cross-reactivity, poor reproducibility, complexity, and high cost.

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