Promising results from the UK’s first clinical trial of a prototype cancer drug have raised the prospect of an effective new treatment against a range of cancers, including breast, prostate, bowel, kidney, ovarian and skin cancer. Published today* (Thursday) the research reveals the drug’s ability to attack cancer cells on a number of fronts at the same time, and gives the first indication that it may have the potential to halt the disease in patients. The Cancer Research UK funded trial was carried out by Institute of Cancer Research scientists at The Royal Marsden Hospital. The drug was provided by the National Cancer Institute in the US under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the US biotech company, Kosan Biosciences Inc. The research team already knew that the drug - labelled 17AAG - selectively and potently blocks the growth of a wide range of common cancer cells in the laboratory, causing them to ‘commit suicide’.
