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Hepatitis B will be treated with a cancer drug
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
Scientists from one of Australia's oldest research centres (the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne) have discovered a new property of an anti-cancer drug. As studies have shown, the drug is capable of curing hepatitis B if an antiviral agent is added to the treatment. This therapy has proven to be effective in 100% of cases.
Experiments on laboratory rodents with chronic hepatitis B have shown that the disease completely disappears. Now Australian specialists are preparing to conduct clinical trials involving people, and it is quite possible that in a few years the previously considered incurable form of hepatitis will no longer be a terrible diagnosis. Experts also hope that the treatment method they have developed will help with other serious diseases, such as tuberculosis or HIV, the pathogens of which develop resistance to drugs.
The head of the research group, Mark Pellegrini, commented on the work of his colleagues. The results of the preclinical trials showed 100% effectiveness in the treatment of viral hepatitis.
The team used Birinapant, a new drug developed to treat cancerous tumors. The drug has already undergone clinical trials involving humans and has shown its effectiveness, but has not yet been commercially available.
During the trials, scientists found that Birinapant destroyed hepatitis-infected liver cells without affecting healthy ones.
Then the specialists decided to use the antiviral drug Entecavir at the same time and were amazed, as the destruction of the infection began to occur twice as fast.
Experts are hopeful that clinical trials involving humans will be just as effective. Mark Pellegrini noted that the research team is already prepared to conduct human trials.
According to WHO, more than 350 million people in the world are infected with the deadly hepatitis virus. The disease occurs mainly in developing countries. The disease causes damage to liver and kidney tissue, and can also provoke the development of cancerous tumors.
In countries where antiretroviral treatment is available, patients with chronic hepatitis take them for life or until they undergo a new organ transplant. Despite this, more than 700,000 people die from viral hepatitis every year.
As the head of the research group noted, the anti-cancer drug helps restore the natural mechanism of cleansing from pathological cells affected by hepatitis or a cancerous tumor.
Experts explained that usually, when infected, the liver triggers a signal and the diseased cells self-destruct to prevent further spread of the infection, but the hepatitis virus blocks this signal and the cells do not respond to the infection and the virus eventually affects the entire organ.
When Birinapant is introduced into the body, natural mechanisms are restored and as a result, liver cells affected by the virus die.
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