World Cancer Day 2026

Treatment resistance is one of the biggest challenges facing oncologists. But what if a radioactive molecule could be the answer for patients who no longer respond to conventional therapies?

A King's College London spinout is exploiting the very features of tumours which make them resistant.

Nuclide Therapeutics has designed a radioactive treatment which can be injected into the bloodstream – directly binding to tumour biomarkers to kill cancer cells.

The highly targeted approach kills the tumours while leaving healthy tissues unaffected, reducing the side effects associated with traditional chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

The radioactive molecule also reveals resistant cancer cells around the body on PET scans, helping oncologists detect the disease.

The team have recently received £5m investment which will fund a clinical trial exploring the treatment in lung cancer patients.

Nuclide Therapeutics builds on the unique expertise in nuclear medicine of King’s described as the “perfect ecosystem” by co-founder Professor Tim Witney.

The original article was published by King's College London.