The researchers say that this most recent research shows that PARP inhibitors may work in a similar way with NSCLC tumors.

They explain that half of NSCLC tumors have a fault that blocks one of the ways cells repair errors in DNA. The fault is in a key protein involved in DNA repair called Excision Repair Cross-Complementation group 1 (ERCC1).

Using PARP inhibitors for NSCLC could work by damaging another DNA damage repair system, the researchers say. This could cause secondary damage and kill lung cancer cells, while avoiding damage to healthy tissue.

Dr. Chris Lord, a scientist at the ICR, says:

    "Lung cancer is hard to treat and unfortunately has very poor survival, so there is an urgent need to find new treatments. Our research opens up an exciting new route, by showing how we could repurpose drugs originally designed for use against other formS of cancer."

He adds: "We now need to build on this promising early research by testing PARP inhibitors against lung cancer in clinical trials to confirm whether they can benefit patients."

According to the American Cancer Society, around 85-90% of lung cancers are non-small cell lung cancers, and it is the second most common cancer in both men and women worldwide.

Survival rates of NSCLC remain low. At stage one of the cancer, when it has not yet spread to the lymph nodes or other organs, there is an estimated five-year survival rate of 49%.

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