Scientists at a leading US hospital have developed an innovative pill that kills tumors through “targeted chemotherapy." The team at City of Hope, a cancer research and treatment organization, said the AOH1996 molecule targets a cancer variant of PCNA. PCNA is a protein critical to DNA replication and the repair of enlarging tumors. Preclinical research showed it to be effective in treating breast, prostate, ovarian, brain, cervical, skin & lung cancers. The study, published in Cell Chemical Biology, showed AOH1996 selectively kills cancer cells by “disrupting the cell reproductive cycle." Linda Malkas said it’s “like a snowstorm that closes a key airline hub, shutting down all flights only in planes carrying cancer cells." "AOH1996 can suppress tumor growth as a monotherapy or combination treatment in cell and animal models without resulting in toxicity. The investigational chemotherapeutic is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials in humans," said Malkas, a Ph.D professor in City of Hope. The team “discovered that PCNA is a potential cause of increased nucleic acid replication error in cancer cells." "Now that we know the problem area and can inhibit it, we will dig deeper to understand the process to develop more personalized, targeted cancer medicines," Malkas added.