A group of researchers are attempting to patent a possible cure for cancer involving nothing more than sugar and short-chain fatty acid combination. However, the Johns Hopkins researchers do caution that their molecule (described in the December issue of the Chemistry & Biology Journal) has not yet been tested on animals or humans.

They do believe it represents a promising new strategy for combating cancer, and have as mentioned, filed an application for a U.S. Patent covering this class of compounds.

Researcher have found that when the right sugar is matched with the right chemical partner, it can deliver a powerful two-pronged attack against cancer cells. They have found that a short-chain fatty acid called butyrate can slow the spread of cancer cells. Back in the 1980s they also found that butyrate can restore healthy cell functioning.

Since then, efforts to use butyrate as a general drug have been hampered by the high doses required to effectively eradicate cancer. This lead scientists to modify the compound. Initial results have been disappointing because the molecular partner added to butyrate produced unsafe side effects.

This has lead scientists to focus on a sugar called N-actyl-D-mannosamine, or ManNAc, for short, and develop a molecule by linking ManNAc with butyrate.

Testing has revealed that while cancer grows back on dishes treated with other compounds, the cancer growth in the sample dish treated with the butyrate-ManNAc has all died.

The long awaited cure for cancer? Let's wait until the experts have figured out if the new compound has any unwanted side-effects first.