New medicines that remove harmful proteins in cancer cells
Inducing Proximity: An Emerging Paradigm for New Therapeutic Modalities
This project develops PROTAC medicines designed to tag and remove cancer-driving proteins to help people with breast cancer.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Yale University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New Haven, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11178111 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you have breast cancer, this project is developing small molecules called PROTACs that bring harmful proteins to the cell's disposal system so they get destroyed. Laboratory and animal tests show these molecules can lower the amount of targeted proteins, and related first-in-human trials have already shown target reduction for hormone-driven cancers. The grant supports optimizing these compounds, testing them in cells and animals, and working with industry partners to advance the best candidates toward more clinical testing.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates would be people with hormone-receptor–positive (ER+) breast cancer whose tumors depend on the targeted proteins, especially those with disease that has stopped responding to standard treatments.
Not a fit: Patients with cancers that do not rely on the targeted proteins (such as ER-negative breast cancer) or those needing immediate standard therapy rather than experimental approaches may not directly benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, these drugs could offer a new way to treat cancers by removing proteins that current medicines cannot target, potentially helping patients with therapy-resistant tumors.
How similar studies have performed: Related PROTAC approaches have shown strong effects in preclinical studies and early human trials have demonstrated reduction of target proteins, though broad clinical benefit remains to be proven.
Where this research is happening
New Haven, United States
- Yale University — New Haven, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Crews, Craig M — Yale University
- Study coordinator: Crews, Craig M
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.