Weaponized antibodies use new tricks to fight cancer

Nature: After decades of frustration, efforts to develop antibodies that can ferry drugs into cancer cells — and minimize damage to healthy tissue — are gathering steam. The next generation of these ‘weaponized antibody’ therapies, called antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs), is working its way through clinical trials. Researchers will gather to discuss this renaissance on 30 November at the Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Munich, Germany. The improvements come after the first wave of experimental ADCs failed to deliver on its promise.

what are antibodies and why are viruses like dengue worse the second time?

TheConversation: Our immune system is like a highly trained army. It fends off invading pathogens, usually very effectively. The problem is that sometimes it makes mistakes and attacks us. This can result in allergies, autoimmune diseases or just misfires in the immune system’s attack of invading cells.
But there’s another way the immune system can fail us – by throwing down the welcome mat for viruses on their second invasion.