An experimental once-a-day pill made advanced prostate tumours disappear or shrink in most men who tried it

The men in this early trial had already been through multiple treatments for advanced prostate cancer. On Johnson & Johnson's experimental once-daily pill JNJ-6143 — which kills cancer cells by attacking a protein they need to survive — 69% of those whose tumours could be measured saw them shrink or disappear entirely. In 77% of patients on the 50-milligram dose, PSA, the blood marker doctors watch, fell by at least half. The results, shared at the ESMO cancer congress on Saturday, are early — just 31 patients at that dose — but they open a genuinely new way of attacking this cancer.

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