In a period of less than 10 months, humanity has carried out, as shown by the official data of all competent regulators and other authorities, a massive attack against cancer.
The last few months have brought not a "unique anti-cancer drug" but an accumulation of approvals and strong clinical data. Looking back at the official announcements and with the help of the Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Nicosia, Christos Petrou, we recorded the main developments.
From this recording, it emerged that from November 2025 to the end of July 2026, a total of 27 drugs or vaccines have either received final approvals or are in the stage of advanced clinical studies with particularly encouraging results.
"More than a century ago, Paul Ehrlich formulated the vision of the 'magic bullet': a treatment that would be precisely directed to the pathological target, without causing damage to healthy tissues. Today, oncology is getting closer than ever to this vision," Mr. Petrou told "F", adding of course that "no 'magic bullet' can achieve its goal if we do not first know exactly what it is".
And he explained: "The genomic analysis of cancer cells from each patient's tumour is the modern targeting system."
This is because, "it allows us to determine the tumour's unique molecular identity, the mutations that guide its growth, protein targets, and resistance mechanisms."
Thus, "we can choose the appropriate targeted drug, bispecific antibody, antibody-drug combination or other specialized treatment for the specific patient".
Simply put, "it is no longer enough to know only in which organ the cancer occurred. We need to know the personal genomic and molecular profile of each tumour. In this sense, genomic analysis is what transforms Ehrlich's historical vision from theory to truly personalized oncology."
The treatments that bring hope
Cancer research is now turning to treatments that do not indiscriminately attack all cells, but look for the particular "weaknesses" of each tumour. With the help of genomic analysis, doctors can identify mutations and proteins that help cancer cells grow. They then choose drugs designed to hit those exact targets.
One of the most important developments concerns pancreatic cancer, which remains particularly difficult to treat. In the RASolute 302 study, daraxonrasib pill was tested in 500 patients with metastatic disease who had already been treated. Those who took the new drug lived an average of 13.2 months, compared with 6.7 months with standard chemotherapy. The drug almost doubled survival and reduced the risk of death by 60%. The result shows that a goal that for years was considered "elusive" can now be treated pharmaceutically.
The results for some lung cancers are also encouraging. The LIBRETTO-432 study involved patients whose tumours carried a specific genetic alteration, RET. Two years after surgery, 91.5% of those treated with selpercatinib had no recurrence or other serious event, compared with 61.1% in the placebo group. In localized high-risk prostate cancer, adding apalutamide to treatment before and after surgery reduced the risk of metastasis or death by 20%.
Another category that is gaining ground is bispecific antibodies, which were recently focused on by the scientific journal Nature. These are medicines that identify two different targets at the same time. Some act as a "bridge": they grab the cancer cell on one side and a T-lymphocyte, i.e. a defense cell, on the other, bringing them into direct contact. Others simultaneously block two pathways that the tumour uses to grow and hide from the immune system.
An example is ivonescimab, which has been approved in China for certain forms of lung cancer. In the HARMONi-6 study, patients who received it together with chemotherapy lived a median of 27.9 months, compared with 23.7 months with tislelizumab and chemotherapy. At the same time, five trials of pumitamig in lung, breast, colon and stomach cancers began in 2026. Pumitamig acts on two targets at the same time, but remains an experimental treatment.
A different technology combines an antibody with a potent anti-cancer drug. The antibody acts as a "vehicle", recognizes the tumour and transports the drug as targeted as possible to the cancer cells. Datroway and Enhertu belong to this category, which are used in specific forms of breast cancer.
Vepdegestrant works even more differently. It taps into the cell's natural "recycling" mechanism, forcing it to destroy a protein that helps some breast cancers grow. Zidesamtinib, respectively, targets the ROS1 genetic alteration in lung cancer. Pluvicto takes another route: it locates prostate cancer cells through the PSMA protein and delivers radiation directly to them.
All these developments have a common denominator: treatment is increasingly chosen based on the biological and genetic characteristics of the tumour, and not just on the organ in which it appeared. This does not mean that every new drug is suitable for everyone, or that every encouraging result is a definitive cure. It shows, however, that oncology is moving towards more precise and more personalized interventions.
mRNA: important prospect, without approved treatment
mRNA vaccines against cancer are designed to "teach" the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells. In some cases, in fact, they are prepared separately for each patient, based on the particular mutations of their tumour. These are therefore not vaccines that prevent cancer, but experimental treatments aimed at preventing its recurrence or limiting its progression.
The most advanced results come from the KEYNOTE-942 study, which involved 157 patients who had been operated on for high-risk melanoma. The combination of the personalised mRNA V940 vaccine with pembrolizumab immunotherapy was associated with a 59% reduction in the risk of recurrence or death and a 59% reduction in the risk of distant metastases or death, over five years, compared to administering immunotherapy alone.
The findings are considered encouraging, but need to be confirmed in larger studies.
At the same time, other mRNA vaccines for different types of cancer are being developed. BNT113 is being tested in head and neck cancers.
Of course, despite the optimism generated by the first results, no therapeutic mRNA vaccine against cancer has yet been established as an approved treatment. Before they can be integrated into everyday medical practice, it must be demonstrated to a larger number of patients that they are safe, that their benefit is sustained in the long term and that they can be produced quickly and at an affordable cost.
*Editorial note: Many of the drugs presented are currently only approved in the U.S., China, or are still in clinical trials. To be marketed in Cyprus and the rest of the European Union, they must first be evaluated by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and obtained a marketing authorisation from the European Commission.)
