A new drug called berzosertib may help limit the development of tumors in some people with cancer. The substance belongs to a family of products known to block the repair process of damaged DNA in cells, reports the BBC. British scientists have therefore studied its effects and sought to determine whether berzosertib could prevent the regeneration of cancerous tumors and therefore their proliferation.
A stop in the progression of malignant cells was observed for more than half of the 40 subjects who received the drug in the context of clinical tests, says the study which was published Monday June 22 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Researchers at the Cancer Research Institute (ICR) and the Royal Marsden Hospital in London have also shown that berzosertib is even more effective when given at the same time as chemotherapy.
New studies will confirm its effectiveness
The patients followed in the study suffered from tumors at different stages of development for which no other treatment had worked until then. The test results are “Very promising”, said Christopher J. Lord, one of the study’s co-authors. The cancer genome specialist explains that berzosertib has the particularity of attacking cancerous tumors without stopping the development of other cells, unlike chemotherapy.
The observations of specialists are all the more encouraging since it is rare to detect visible effects so early in tests concerning a substance. The drug is in fact only in the first phase of the tests, intended to establish its harmlessness on humans. New studies must now be carried out to confirm the effectiveness of the molecule.
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