American cancer cure drug- is it true?

[Meeting]

I've had to find a link to an article and sadly it's from the DM. I haven't added a TW as the word is in the title

I saw a video on SM today that said American scientists have created a drug that kills cancer cells. They also said it would take around 20 years to get to the stage where it's used.

Is this something that happens regularly and doesn't get through all the trials etc, or is this a genuine breakthrough?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12360701/amp/Potential-cancer-breakthrough-groundbreaking-pill-annihilates-types-solid-tumors-early-study.html

At the moment it hasn't been shown to be effective in humans so it's a very early stage - it's about to go into Phase 1 trials which is where they show if it is safe & how the body deals with it, whether there are serious side effects etc. Phase 1 trials with cancer drugs are often done in cancer patients (unlike other drugs where healthy volunteers are used). It's all about finding a safe dose. They may also get a hint about whether it works, but the efficacy really comes later.
In other words, it's at a very early stage & could fall at various hurdles. Fingers crossed it turns out to be a major step forwards.

This has been known in research circles for a while but I think it's going into stage 1 drug trials in humans soon - I don't think we should get our hopes up though. I know one of the principal investigators.

I thought that might be the case when they said it would likely be 20 years until it could be used. I suppose it's still good news but not quite as good as it was made out to be. Is there anywhere you can stay up to date with it?

The drug has been in development for 20 years to date. The phase 1 trial began in October and is expected to last 2 years. Then there would be phase 2, and 4.

This was a cautious review https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-study-on-use-of-small-molecule-ligand-aoh1996-for-inhibiting-tumour-growth-in-animals/

*2,3 and 4

You can find information about US studies on Clintrials.gov. There is similar information for all clinical trials in the UK (I don't have a link right now but you can Google).

There were something like 1500 early phase 1 trials in oncology in 2021, I’m not sure why this specific one is big news.

saying it’ll kill all cancers because they have tested it on various cell lines in a lab is a rather big stretch!

the review Floorwipes linked suggested it slowed growth in cells and mice - this is likely not enough to see any effect in humans.

The chances of their being a small molecule ‘pill’ that will cure all cancers is very unlikely. What’s more likely is that a certain treatment will work well for a certain cancer. Then another treatment for certain other types, so overall the amount of hard to treat cancers will decline.

Too late foenmy loved ones who've died from cancer but fingers crossed for us all who carry the gene.

I think this particular drug has grabbed headlines due to being relatively novel in targeting PCNA. It’s a new line of attack and comes potentially with the advantage of not killing healthy cells. That’s my understanding at least.