New drug helps 'unmask' cancer cells.

An experimental pill that helps cancer cells evade the immune system has shown positive results in many types of cancer.

GRWD5769 makes cancer cells (pink) more recognizable to T cells - Photo: NEMES LASZLO

Early-stage clinical trial results suggest that the drug GRWD5769 may help shrink tumors in many cancer patients who are no longer responding to existing treatments, according to The Guardian on June 1st.

The study was conducted in the UK, France, Spain, and Australia on 83 patients with six common types of cancer: cervical, bladder, liver, colorectal, lung, and head and neck cancer.

All of them had undergone treatment, but their disease either progressed or no longer responded to immunotherapy.

Patients were treated with GRWD5769 in combination with the immunosuppressant ceimplimab. Results showed tumor shrinkage in 26 individuals, with 15 cases recording a reduction of 30% or more.

Notably, the drug showed effectiveness in all six types of cancer included in the study.

According to scientists , one of the reasons immunotherapy fails is that cancer cells have the ability to "camouflage" themselves, avoiding detection by the immune system. They do this by manipulating an enzyme called ERAP1, making it difficult for T immune cells to recognize and attack the tumor.

GRWD5769 works by inhibiting the ERAP1 enzyme, thereby removing the "camouflage cloak" of cancer cells. Once this camouflage is broken, T cells can more clearly recognize the tumor and work with immunotherapy to destroy diseased cells more effectively.

Professor Fiona Thistlethwaite, an oncologist in the UK, commented that the results are particularly encouraging because it is a pill that can be used at home and has few side effects.

According to her, observing efficacy in multiple types of cancer from the early stages is relatively rare in new drug research.

Immunotherapy is considered one of the biggest advances in cancer treatment in recent years. However, about two-thirds of patients still do not achieve the desired results. Therefore, strategies to improve the immune system's ability to recognize tumors are receiving special attention from the scientific community.

Although the current results are only from a phase 1 trial and need to be confirmed by larger-scale studies, GRWD5769 is opening up hope for a new approach in cancer treatment.

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ANH THU

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thuoc-moi-giup-lot-ao-tang-hinh-cua-te-bao-ung-thu-20260602131630388.htm