Designing Synthetic, Sulfated Glycosaminoglycan Mimetics That Are Orally Bioavailable and Exhibiting Anticancer Activity.

Sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), or synthetic mimetics thereof, are not favorably viewed as orally bioavailable drugs owing to their high number of anionic sulfate groups. Devising an approach for oral delivery of such highly sulfated molecules would be very useful. This work presents the concept that conjugating cholesterol to synthetic sulfated GAG mimetics enables oral delivery.

Immunotherapy of cancer: targeting cancer during active disease or during dormancy?

Immunotherapeutic targeting of advanced stage cancers has prolonged the survival of cancer patients, yet its curative efficacy is limited due to tumor immunoediting and escape. On the other hand, human vaccines have been able to eradicate smallpox and control several other infectious diseases. The success has resulted from the administration of vaccines in prophylactic settings, or during latency periods in order to protect an individual during future exposure to the disease rather than curing an established disease.