Weapon of bone destruction identified

Enzyme finding may aid hunt for new anticancer therapies

multiple myeloma in mouse bones

NO HOLES BARRED  Mouse femurs (shown in X-rays) with multiple myeloma growing in the bone marrow develop holes and weak spots (middle, red arrows). Treating mice with a drug that inhibits an enzyme responsible for kick-starting the destruction prevents much of the bone loss (right).

H. Liu et al/Science Translational Medicine 2016

A blood cancer uses a secret weapon for tearing bone apart.