Scientists have identified an experimental drug that is well-tolerated in patients, and prevents cancer coming back in mice.
One of the biggest challenges in cancer research is preventing cancer returning in patients who have already had treatment, according to researchers from the Francis Crick Institute in the UK.
A reason for these relapses is that some cancer cells survive and are able to grow into a new tumour, they said.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, shows that the drug, Quisinostat, could stop tumour re-growth after initial treatment in live mice, and prevent expansion of surviving human cancer cells in culture.
Researchers explained that the drug works by increasing the amount of a protein called histone H1.0 within the tumour cells.
This protein stops the cancer cells from replicating and so the tumour from growing, they said.
When the team tested the drug on tumours in mice, it halted tumour growth.
When it was tested on cells taken from patients with breast, lung or pancreatic cancer, the cancerous cells were trapped in a non-dividing state.
The researchers hope that if proven to be effective in further tests and clinical trials, this drug could be given to patients after treatment to prevent any cancerous cells left behind from driving disease relapse.
The effect of Quisinostat does not depend on how cancer cells survived treatment, something that varies from patient to patient, and across cancer types, and could have a potentially broad therapeutic benefit.
"This drug works by disabling the cells that fuel long-term cancer growth and drive disease relapse,” said Cristina Morales Torres from the Francis Crick Institute.
"These early findings even suggest it may be more effective than commonly used drugs that inhibit tumour growth," Torres said.
However, the researchers said further study is needed to confirm whether this drug could prevent cancer from coming back in people or if it could be used to control someone's disease long term.
The research also suggests that Quisionostat could impact cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed.