Researchers have long searched for a novel cancer drug that activates a certain protein to kill tumor cells. But finding a drug that kills the cancer without causing damage to normal cells has been trully a challenging task.

But now, things seem to be better and better; progress is being made every single day. Now, researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have designed a small molecule that is highly effective and it could prove to be a huge step forward.

“For more than 10 years scientists have searched for ways to block p53 inhibition, but with little success. Our study clearly shows that this can be done,” says study author Shaomeng Wang, Ph.D., Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor in Medicine at the U-M Medical School and co-director of the molecular therapeutics program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Still, this drug has to pass the clinical tests first but scientists are pretty optimistic about this. Also, aside from the fact that it kills tumours it can also be taken as a pill rather than chemotherapy.

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