Overview
- Using natural product total synthesis, the team converts widely available chemicals into compounds found in guava that have been associated with activity against liver-related cancers.
- The work, led by associate professor William Chain with first author Liam O’Grady, is published in the international chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie.
- Researchers describe the pathway as an easy, low-cost process intended to enable large-scale production and encourage labs worldwide to adapt and optimize it.
- The collaboration with the National Cancer Institute will focus on biological testing and assessing potential activity beyond liver malignancies.
- Scientists stress the development is preclinical, as liver and bile duct cancers continue to impose a heavy burden with late-stage five-year survival rates under 15% and tens of thousands of projected U.S. cases in 2025.