09/06/2026
A new drug being trialled at The Christie has the potential to make immunotherapy effective where it hasn't been before.
Immunotherapies harness the body's immune system to find and attack cancer cells.
The pill, currently called GRWD5769, has shown promise in shrinking tumours or keeping them stable in six advanced and hard-to-treat cancers - cervical, bladder, liver, non-small cell lung cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and a type of bowel cancer called microsatellite stable bowel cancer.
Every patient who benefitted had already failed treatment, and most had no conventional treatment options left after multiple lines. Crucially, immunotherapy hadn't worked or had stopped working.
Some people on the EMITT-1 trial saw their tumours shrink by 30% or more.
The drug works by targeting an enzyme called ERAP1, which cancer cells use to hide from the immune system.
When paired with Cemiplimab, an existing immunotherapy, it frees up the patient’s immune system to allow it to target the cancer on its own.
💬Professor Fiona Thistlethwaite, Consultant Medical Oncologist, is leading the trial at The Christie:
“Immunotherapy has been a game-changer in the way we treat cancer, but the number of people that can benefit is still relatively low.
“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, gives me genuine optimism.”
