Scientists Find Safer Way to Boost Body Against Cancer

APP/WAM

Carmbridge: Scientists at the University of Cambridge have unveiled a breakthrough method to activate the immune system against cancer with greater safety and precision, offering new hope for targeted therapies.

The research focuses on the STING pathway, a powerful cellular alarm system that triggers immune responses. While drugs that activate STING have shown promise in cancer treatment, they risk severe side effects if activated in healthy tissues.

To overcome this challenge, the Cambridge team designed a two-part “prodrug” system. Each component is harmless on its own but combines to form an active drug only inside tumours. One part remains “caged” until it encounters ß-glucuronidase, an enzyme found almost exclusively in tumour cells. Once unlocked, it reacts with the second component, creating a potent STING activator that signals the immune system to attack cancer cells.

Read More: https://thepenpk.com/early-breakfast-may-add-years-to-your-life-study-finds/

“This is like sending two safe packages into the body that only unlock and combine when they meet the tumour’s unique chemistry,” explained Professor Gonçalo Bernardes of Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, who led the study. “The result is a strong immune-activating drug that appears only where it is needed.”

Laboratory tests showed the approach triggered STING effectively at very low concentrations, while sparing vital organs. In zebrafish and mouse models engineered to produce ß-glucuronidase, the drug activated almost exclusively within tumours, avoiding damage to the liver, kidneys, and heart.

Published in Nature Chemistry, the study represents a major advance for STING-based therapies, which have long struggled to distinguish between healthy and cancerous tissues. Researchers believe the simple yet selective design could pave the way for a new generation of precision medicines beyond cancer treatment.