Possible Cure For Cancer Will ‘Arrive In The Next Year’
Scientists around the world have urged people to treat the claims of Israeli researchers who say they think they’ve found a cure for cancer with scepticism.
Dr Ben Neel, director of the Perlmutter Cancer Centre at the NYU Langone Health academic medical centre in New York City, said it was “highly unlikely” that the team at Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies had found a universal treatment for the world’s second biggest killer.
The company – based in Ness Ziona, south of Tel Aviv – says it has developed a potential cure using peptides, small fragments of protein which are already used to treat cancer and a variety of other diseases. The treatment is called MuTaTo, which stands for multi-target toxin, and the idea is that it works by attacking several abnormalities in cancer cells at once, limiting their ability to mutate and become resistant to treatment.
The company says it has tested the treatment on mice and is about to start clinical trials.
Chairman of the board Dan Aridor told the Jerusalam Post that they expected to offer a complete cure for cancer in a year’s time. He further stated that it would be effective from the outset, lasting only a few weeks and with minimal side effects. However, given that clinical trials – which would in themselves take several years – have not yet begun it is difficult to see how Aridor has arrived at any of these conclusions.
Dr Leonard Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer for the national office of the American Cancer Society, said in a blog on the society’s website that attempts to use similar methods of treatment in the past had proved very difficult.
“This is a news report based on limited information provided by researchers. It apparently has not been published in the scientific literature where it would be subject to review, support and criticism from knowledgeable peers,” he said. He went on to point our that previous exploration in this direction has “far from proven effective” and would unlikely lead to a cure.
Talking to The New York Post, Dr Neel emphasised the multi-faceted nature of cancer, explaining that it is not one but multiple diseases, and that consequently the company is unlikely to have found a single cure for cancer any more than they could a single cure for infections. He branded the claim as, “yet another in a long line of spurious, irresponsible and ultimately cruel false promises for cancer patients.”
Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies’ CEO Dr Ilan Morad told The Times of Israel that the company had not published its research in medical journals because it couldn’t afford to. It is unclear what he meant by this – reputable peer-reviewed scientific journals do not charge for publication.
If your UK business is carrying out serious medical or scientific research, you could be eligible for government funding through the research and development tax credits scheme. At R&D Tax Solutions, we specialise in helping companies make successful claims. Have a look at our r&d tax credits example and r&d tax credit calculator to see how much you could be eligible for – and call us at our Manchester office on 0161 298 1010 to see how we can help.