A pill that cuts the tumour's oxygen signal is holding kidney cancer back a year on

Kidney cancer that has spread is usually treated in rounds, each buying less time than the last. Arcus Biosciences' casdatifan — a pill that starves tumours of the oxygen signal they use to grow — is trying to change the arithmetic. In early cohorts of its ARC-20 study, reported this week, combinations built on casdatifan kept the cancer from progressing for a year in 63% to 82% of patients, depending on the group — figures the company says sit well above the benchmarks of today's standard combinations. These are small groups, a few dozen people each, and the real test is already running: two large Phase 3 trials, PEAK-1 and PEAK-20, will decide whether the promise survives contact with hundreds more patients.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation