>> So when we started studying this aggressive lymphoma called
ABC diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, we recognized
that the B-cell receptor signaling pathway was critical
for the viability of these cancer cells,
and that when we inhibited various components
of that signaling pathway, the cancer cells died.
One of the most important enzymes in that pathway is Btk,
Bruton's tyrosine kinase.
We came across a drug called ibrutinib that inhibits Btk,
by interacting in the combining site with a specific amino acid
and inactivating the enzyme.
This amino acid is only found in ten proteins in the entire,
encoded in the genome, and this is therefore giving us great
specificity, and we hope, therefore,
minimizing the side effects of treatment
for our cancer patients.
