Have pharmacists found a cancer cure?
Pharmacists from De Montfort University in Leicester
think they might have discovered a cure for cancer.
Professor Gerry Potter, head of the cancer drug
discovery research group at the school of pharmacy told The Journal
that the group had discovered an oral prodrug that becomes active when
it comes into contact with an enzyme only present in tumour cells. The
group also discovered the enzyme.
“Preclinical trials have shown that the drug is
potent even against cancer cells that are resistant to conventional treatment,”
he said.
Professor Potter was not able to reveal the name
of the drug at this stage, nor the enzyme that it affects, but announced
its preclinical efficacy after obtaining a patent in the United States
that would protect the group’s work.
The drug is 10,000 times more toxic to cancer cells
than to normal cells. Although the drug seems to be effective against
cancers of the breast, colon, lung, stomach and brain, it has not yet
been shown to be effective for leukaemia.
Professor Potter warned that, as with all drugs,
there is still a long way to go before it reaches clinical use.
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