The team, led by Professor Jo Milner and Dr Shafiq Ahmed of the the University of York, used RNA interference to target the JNK2 gene in cells. When the JNK2 gene was silenced, the cancer cells died and the healthy ones were left unaffected.

Dr Shafiq Ahmed said: “Our results indicate that one day it may be possible to treat cancer without the harmful side-effects so often associated with today’s treatments. Our study has identified a cancer-specific target which could be selectively inhibited using small-molecules, or other means, without the use of radiotherapy or chemotherapy.”

This research is early stage but represents an important step towards developing next generation cancer treatment. The advent of RNA interference has made it possible to silence single genes amongst thousands and by identifying genes needed for cancer cell survival, the team from York has opened up a new path to cancer treatment.

Professor Milner thinks there is still much to learn in the area. “Our approach is now revealing unexpected properties for certain genes including JNK2. We have also studied JNK2’s close relative, JNK1, and found that these two genes seem to oppose each other. A further surprise is that the mechanism by which these two genes function under normal every-day conditions appears distinct from the mechanism which is activated by current anti-cancer therapies.”

By Leila Sattary