Scientists have developed a 'Trojan horse' drug that tricks and kills cancer cells.
The new approach involves binding a chemotherapy treatment to fat, which tumours use as fuel to grow.
The fat gets taken up by malignant cells with the cancer-killing therapy in tow. Once inside a tumour, the drug becomes activated and destroys the cancerous cells.
Researchers tested the approach using the chemo drug paclitaxel. This 'completely eliminated' bone, pancreatic and colon cancer in mice.
Scientists have developed a 'Trojan horse' drug that tricks and kills cancer cells (stock)
The research was carried out by Northwestern University and led by Dr Nathan Gianneschi, professor in the department of chemistry.
'It's like a Trojan horse,' Professor Gianneschi said. 'It looks like a nice little fatty acid, so the tumor’s receptors see it and invite it in.
'Then the drug starts getting metabolised and kills the tumour cells.'
One in two people born after 1960 in the UK will develop cancer at some point in their lives, Cancer Research UK statistics show.
In the US alone, more than 1.7million people were diagnosed with the disease last year, while over 609,000 died, according to the National Cancer Institute.