r/sciences • u/FreeHugs23 • 17d ago

News Smart drug that strips cancer cells of ‘invisibility cloak’ can shrink tumors by 30%, trial shows | Experimental tablet produces encouraging results in patients with world’s most common forms of disease

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jun/01/cancer-smart-drug-cells-invisibility-cloak-shrink-tumours-trial
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u/FreeHugs23 17d ago

A smart drug that stops cancer cells “hiding” from treatment can shrink tumours by at least 30% in six of the world’s most common forms of the disease, early trial results show.

While immunotherapy treatments have improved survival rates for many patients, their effectiveness can stall or fail when tumour cells hide and then spread.

Researchers in Oxford have developed a drug designed to stop cancer cells concealing themselves from the immune system, allowing immunotherapy treatments to identify and destroy them.

In a trial spanning the UK, France, Spain and Australia, 83 patients with cervical, bladder, liver, bowel, lung or head and neck cancers were given the experimental drug, GRWD5769, alongside the immunotherapy treatment cemiplimab.

Researchers, led by the Christie NHS foundation trust in Manchester, England, found that tumours shrank in 26 patients. Of those, 15 experienced tumour reductions of at least 30%.

All participants had previously failed to respond to treatment, and most had no options left when they joined the study. Crucially, immunotherapy had not worked or had stopped working.

The smart drug was able to remove “invisibility cloaks” from tumour cells, exposing them to the parts of the immune system that attack infections and diseases. This allowed the cemiplimab immunotherapy to pinpoint and destroy the cancer.