Scientists have developed a promising new inhibitory drug aimed at treating certain stubborn cancers, offering hope for patients who have exhausted other treatment options, and potentially paving the way for targeted, less toxic treatments.

The drug is designed to block a protein called Werner Helicase (WRN), which is crucial for the survival of specific types of colorectal, endometrial, and gastric cancers.

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, and their collaborators at GSK and IDEAYA, showed in laboratory tests that the treatment approach  killed cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed. These tests included experiments on mini-tumours grown from patient samples that had stopped responding to existing treatments.

The findings, published recently in Cancer Discovery, provide support that targeting the WRN protein may not only treat these cancers, particularly in patients unresponsive to current therapies, but also has the potential for fewer side effects compared to traditional chemotherapy.