New ‘Cancer-Killing’ Drug Has Seen Breakthrough in the Relentless Fight Against Cancer

August 3, 2023

In early research, a “cancer-killing pill” was found to be capable of eradicating solid tumours without affecting healthy cells. There have been 20 years of work poured into the development of this breakthrough drug, and now it is entering Phase 1 in its pre-clinical trials in the United States.

According to scientists, a drug named AOH1996 contains a molecule that appears to eradicate all solid tumours, preclinical research shows. The drug with the plate number AOH1996 is named in honour of Anna Olivia Healey, a cancer patient born in 1996 in Indiana, USA.

It has been found that the mutated form of PCNA plays an essential role in the replication of DNA, as well as in repairing all expanding tumours. The AOH1996 project is being worked on by the City of Hope, one of the most active cancer research and treatment organizations in America.

The professor who has been developing the drug, Linda Malkas, explained, “PCNA is like a major airline terminal hub containing multiple plane gates.” Professor Malkas continued by stating, “Data suggests PCNA is uniquely altered in cancer cells, and this fact allowed us to design a drug that targeted only the form of PCNA in cancer cells.”

In 2005, Malkas met Anna’s family just a few days before their little girl lost her battle with cancer, after a devastating fight against the disease, which changed her life purpose.

“I met Anna’s father when she was at her end stages, he asked if I could do something about neuroblastoma, and he wrote my lab a check for $25,000. That was the moment that changed my life.”