A new pill may be effective against fighting off all cancers and preventing them from coming back, a new study finds.

The study, published in the Nature journal, discovered that delta inhibitors contained in the pill may be effective against breast, skin, lung and pancreatic cancer.

Initially, tests showed that the drugs performed exceptionally well for leukemia patients that even the patients who were given placebos were immediately shifted to take the pill as well, according to Telegraph.

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Scientists at the University College of London (UCL) and Cambridge University found that 'p110delta,' the enzyme produced from cancer patients that weakens the immune system, was being slowed down by the delta inhibitor, thereby allowing the body to attack the cancer cells.

Moreover, it was discovered that the drug had boosted the body's cancer immunity and allowing the body to fight it off completely, unlike chemotherapy treatments where cancer cells are eliminated but does not work against the return of the deadly disease.

"We have shown that blocking 'p110delta' also has the remarkable effect of boosting the body's immune response against leukemias as well as other cancers," said UCL Cancer Institute professor Bart Vanhaesebroeck who also co-authored the study.

Although the study was tested among mice, researchers are confident that the discovery would be successful with humans as well.

Tests showed that the drug had allowed mice to live significantly longer across a range of tumor types. Survival rates for mice that had breast cancer were twice as longer than mice that were not given the drug.

It was observed that the spread of the cancer had considerably slowed, with far and fewer developed tumors. Similarly, mice that had breast cancer tumors surgically removed and treated with the pill thereafter had showed vast improvement.

"Our work shows that delta inhibitors can shift the balance from the cancer becoming immune to our body's defenses towards the body becoming immune to the cancer," said study co-lead Dr. Klaus Okkenhaug of the Babraham Institute at Cambridge University.

"This provides a rationale for using these drugs against both solid and blood cancers, possibly alongside cancer vaccines, cell therapies and other treatments that further promote tumor-specific immune responses."

The drugs have already been granted Breakthrough Therapy status by the U.S. FDA and is believed to be available in the market within a few years once approval has been given from the National Institute of Clinical Excellence and European controllers.

TagsLeukemia, Delta Inhibitor, Study, Tumor, Cancer cells, fight against cancer, cancer fighting, Klaus Okkenhaug, Babraham Institute, Cambridge University, Bart Vanhaesebroeck, Cancer institute, p110delta, cancer enzyme, immune system, Science news, Health news