Scientists have trialled a new anti-cancer drug called GRWD5769 that can shrink tumours by at least 30% in its most common forms. The 'smart drug' acts as a selective inhibitor of the enzyme endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 (ERAP1). The findings were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Chicago, the world's largest cancer conference. In a clinical study conducted across the UK, France, Spain, and Australia, 83 patients diagnosed with cervical, bladder, liver, bowel, lung, or head and neck cancers received the experimental medication GRWD5769 in combination with the immunotherapy treatment cemiplimab.

The early-stage clinical trial has shown promising results for a new "smart drug" that strips cancer cells of their ability to hide from the body's immune system.

Immunotherapy is a treatment that trains the body's own T-cells (immune cells) to hunt and destroy cancer. However, it often fails because cancer cells can manipulate a specific enzyme to create a sort of "invisibility cloak," allowing them to go unnoticed and spread.

The new experimental pill, called GRWD5769, blocks that enzyme. By stripping away the cancer's hiding mechanism, it makes the tumour cells visible again so the immunotherapy treatment can find and destroy them.

Major findings include:

  • Shrank stubborn tumours

In an early-stage (Phase 1) trial of 83 patients, the drug shrank tumours in 26 people. For 15 of those patients, their tumours shrank by at least 30%.

  • Worked across 6 major cancers

The drug showed success across six of the world's most common cancer types, including lung, bowel, liver, cervical, bladder, and head/neck cancer.

  • Helped patients with advanced cancers

All participants in the trial had advanced cancers that had stopped responding to standard treatments, and immunotherapy had previously failed them.

  • Stopped disease progression

GRWD5769 demonstrated the ability to reduce tumour size and stop disease progression for a minimum of six months in 18% of patients with cervical cancer, 32% of patients with liver cancer, 36% of patients with bladder cancer, 38% of patients with neck and head cancer, and over half of the patients with bowel (51%) and lung (55%) cancer.

  • Convenient and safe

The treatment involved a simple tablet that could be taken at home. Researchers noted that it was very well tolerated by patients, showing remarkably few side effects for an early trial.

"For a drug that is given as a tablet, this is very impressive. It's early days, and we need further studies, but this is a new drug with a new mechanism that clearly helps immunotherapy perform more effectively. Immunotherapy has been a game-changer in the way we treat cancer, but the number of people that can benefit is still relatively low," Prof Fiona Thistlethwaite, the principal investigator and a consultant medical oncologist and medical director of the Christie clinical research facility, told The Guardian.

"What excites me about this trial is the combination of what we're seeing - strong signals of efficacy across six tumour types that have shown great resistance to immunotherapy, with very few side effects. " That's unusual at such an early stage, when we're usually just looking at how safe it is."

"There's a lot more work to be done before it reaches the clinic, but for a brand-new drug to show that kind of profile so early - and in so many different types of hard-to-treat cancers - it gives me genuine optimism," Thistlethwaite added.

While doctors and researchers are highly optimistic about these early results, this was only a Phase 1 trial. Larger. Larger trials are needed to see if the benefits last long-term before it can be widely used in clinics.



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