This particular clinical trial for solid tumours has been widely reported in the news this week (July/august 2023). It is touted as a “cancer-killing pill” has appeared to “annihilate” solid tumours in early research – leaving healthy cells unaffected.  Whether these are the words of the sponsor or the media is not clear. Some of the media wording may have been based on preclinical data on animal testing. The new drug has been in development for 20 years and been undergoing pre-clinical research in the US.  

How does it work?

Known as AOH1996, it targets a cancerous variant of a protein called proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA).  In its mutated form, PCNA is “critical” in the replication of DNA, and the repair of all “expanding tumours”. 

The lead researcher, Dr LInda Malkas, believes that proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), which plays an essential role in the replication and repair of cells, would be a less toxic cancer therapy that targets mutated cancer cells while leaving normal cells alone. The treatment has been shown in preclinical research to target PCNA and inhibit the growth and spread of a broad range of human cancer cells. The research protocol notes that AOH1996 is not toxic to healthy cells and that treatment with this medicine both pauses cell DNA synthesis and inhibits DNA repair, leading to a type of cell death known as apoptosis in the cancer cells.  

Why is it called AOH1996?

The drug name AOH1996 derives Anna Olivia Healy, who was born in 1996 and died in 2005 from a deadly neuroblastoma aged just nine. Dr Linda Malkas, who leads the research team, met Anna’s father just before she died and was inspired to find a cure in her memory.