Adebayo Adenrele
Some United States Scientists have discovered a cancer-killing pill known as ‘holy grail’ molecule, that hits all solid cancer tumours, leaving healthy cells unaffected.
The team at the City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organisations in the US, made the breakthrough against the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) protein.
In a mutated form, PCNA is critical in DNA replication and repair of all expanding tumours, but a molecule developed by the team, AOH1996, targets and kills the mutated PCNA.
The team is continuing to investigate the mechanisms that make this cancer-stopping pill work in animal models, while a Phase 1 clinical trial test is also ongoing in humans. However, it is not yet known if the drug will continue to be taken in pill form once fully developed and approved for use.
The new therapy is the result of 20 years of research and development – and is named after Anna Olivia Healey (AOH), a young girl born in 1996 who unfortunately was not able to beat cancer.
According to the Team Leader, Dr Linda Malkas, “Most targeted therapies focus on a single pathway, which enables wily cancer to mutate and eventually become resistant.”
The Professor in City of Hope’s department of molecular diagnostics and experimental therapeutics continued; “PCNA is like a major airline terminal hub containing multiple plane gates. ‘Data suggests PCNA is uniquely altered in cancer cells, and this fact allowed us to design a drug that targeted only the form of PCNA in cancer cells.
“Our cancer-killing pill is like a snowstorm that closes a key airline hub, shutting down all flights in and out only in planes carrying cancer cells.”
The study, published in the journal Cell Chemical Biology, claims AOH1996 has been effective in preclinical research treating cells derived from breast, prostate, brain, ovarian, cervical, skin and lung cancers.
Experiments also showed that the investigational pill made cancer cells more susceptible to chemical agents that cause DNA or chromosome damage, hinting that AOH1996 could become a useful tool in combination therapies and new chemotherapeutics.
