Potentially potent chemo target in sight

Blocking an enzyme involved in the pathway of cell proliferation eliminated tumors in mice

SAN FRANCISCO — Fruit flies don’t get cancer, but a protein first discovered in Drosophila could prove to be a chemotherapy target that may stop even the most aggressive cancers in their tracks.

A protein known as the “seven in absentia homolog,” or SIAH, may help put the brakes on runaway cancers, said Amy Tang, a researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.,