New Experimental Cancer Drug Removes Tumours’ ‘Invisibility Cloak’, Early Trial Shows

A new trial involving the UK, France, Spain and Australia has brought new hope to cancer patients worldwide. Early trial results show that a new smart drug can now limit cancer cells from hiding themselves from the immune system, often referred to as an “invisibility cloak,” and can “shrink tumors by at least 30% in the six most common types of diseases in the world.”

While modern medicine is improving survival rates for cancer patients worldwide, many drugs, despite being the right medical solution, become ineffective because cancer cells can “hide and spread.”

The Good Clinical Practice Network, which manages clinical trial registration, said the drug “works by stopping the functioning of an enzyme in the body called endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 (ERAP1), which is part of the way the body recognizes the presence of a cancer tumor and helps trigger the immune system to fight the cancer.”

However, in cancer patients, immune system cells may become exhausted and no longer work effectively. Blocking ERAP1 causes the tumor to appear different to the immune system, so the immune system starts fighting the cancer again.

The GCPN website added: “GRWD5769 has the potential to produce clinically meaningful improvements by enhancing the antitumor immune response in monotherapy and in combination with therapies such as cemiplimab (Libtayo®).”

The new drug, called GRWD5769 and developed by researchers at Oxford, is designed to stop cancer cells hiding themselves from the immune system.

“GRWD5769 is a first-in-class investigational therapy that is differentiated by its focus on precise modulation of the Signal 1 pathway involved in antigen presentation,” says Oxford-based Greywolf Therapeutics.

“Our approach demonstrates the potential to transform invisible tumors into immunologically active ones and benefit many patients currently left behind,” the company added.

Patients with cervical, bladder, liver, bowel, lung and head and neck cancer were included in the trial. While tumors shrank in 26 of the 83 patients who participated in the experiment, tumor reduction of at least 30% was observed in 15 patients. Some tumors shrank by up to 95%.