Overview

• In Nature Communications, ICR researchers report that combining fadraciclib with AKT inhibitors ipatasertib or capivasertib induced prostate cancer cell death in laboratory studies.
• The same combinations significantly slowed tumour growth in mouse models, whereas each drug used alone showed no effect in these experiments.
• Responses were strongest in PTEN‑loss/PI3K‑activated tumours, a molecular subtype estimated to account for about 40% of prostate cancer cases.
• Fadraciclib, discovered at ICR and in trials for blood cancers, was paired with capivasertib, already used in certain breast cancers, or ipatasertib, which remains under investigation.
• The team is seeking funding to launch clinical trials, with the work supported by Wellcome, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and Prostate Cancer UK, against a backdrop of high incidence and late diagnoses reported by the National Prostate Cancer Audit.