New combination treatment flips the switch on melanoma cells

Think of the protein BH3 like a finger that turns off a cancer cell survival switch. The problem is that most cancer cells have found ways to remove this "finger commonly, by breaking the action of a gene called p53 that puts the BH3 finger in motion. Now think of Bcl-2 as the switch itself. When cancer breaks p53, the BH3 finger never moves, and the Bcl-2 survival switch remains on. Despite thousands of published studies, researchers haven't had much luck directly protecting the action of p53. But, BH3 is another story. Drugs exist that mimic the action of BH3, collectively called (creatively) "BH3 mimetics." For example, the drug venetoclax is a BH3 mimetic that has earned FDA approval against the blood cancer CLL and shows promise against the related blood cancer.