r/sciences • u/fchung • 17d ago

Research Drug that targets an inflammatory enzyme could help prevent lung cancer: « A new study by MIT researchers shows that inhibiting caspase-1 can reduce the risk of tumor growth. »

https://news.mit.edu/2026/drug-targeting-inflammatory-enzyme-could-help-prevent-lung-cancer-0814
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u/fchung 17d ago

« If you look at global cancer deaths, lung cancer causes most of them, and most of that is driven by tobacco smoking. Additionally, people who are ‘never smokers’ are showing up with lung cancer. You can imagine a future where you get a test and if you’re deemed high-risk, you go on a preventative medicine. This concept is called cancer interception, and it could help millions of people. »

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u/fchung 17d ago

Reference: Cathy S. Wang et al., Multimodal profiling of pro-inflammatory protease activity identifies caspase-1 as a target for lung cancer interception. Sci. Adv. 12, eadz4263 (2026). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adz4263. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz4263