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Patients with aggressive, incurable cancers saw their tumors stop growing after they started taking one tablet twice a day.
The experimental drug, called ceralasertib, is designed to stop tumor cells from repairing themselves, causing them to die.
The researchers administered the pills to 67 patients who had not responded to conventional treatment. In the initial stage of the trial, more than half saw their tumors stop growing, while others did not see their cancer progress for at least three years.
Experts believe the drug could be combined with cancer treatments that boost the immune system to increase their effectiveness.
Known as immunotherapy, they are offered to around one in ten cancer patients in the UK. They work by training the immune system to find and kill cancer cells.
However, in many cases cancer cells can disguise themselves to avoid treatments, which has led researchers to develop drugs that can help the immune system recognize them. Ceralasertib, for example, targets the ATR protein, which helps in cell repair.
The experimental drug, called ceralasertib, is designed to prevent tumor cells from repairing themselves, causing them to die (file image)
“The drug damages the cancer’s DNA, which inflames the tumor,” says Dr. Magnus Dillon, a clinical scientist at the Cancer Research Institute. “The theory is that this inflammation in the body will attract the attention of the immune system to attack the cancer.”
Last month’s study explains how researchers gave ceralasertib to 67 patients, all with various incurable cancers, to check whether it was safe for human consumption. About 34 of them saw their tumors stop growing.
One patient, George Pieri, 85, has skin cancer on his lower lip that has spread to his throat. He was treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and an operation to remove a bone from his lower jaw. However, nothing stopped the spread of the disease. But since he took ceralasertib, George’s cancer has remained stable and he has suffered no side effects.
“There was nothing else for me,” he says. ‘It’s amazing that all it took was two pills a day. “I am very happy to be able to spend this time with my children and grandchildren.”
Dr. Dillon says the next step will be to combine ceralasertib with immunotherapy drugs. He adds: “We’re still in the early stages, but it looks like it could be a really interesting treatment.”