Laboratory experiments have previously shown that cancer cells overproduce an enzyme, heparanase, which splits the body’s own polysaccharide heparan sulfate into shorter fragments. The amount of enzyme is related to the degree of malignancy. Today a study is being published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology in which Uppsala University researchers show, on the basis of animal models, that an inhibitor for heparanase would be extremely interesting as a drug candidate.
