Pioneering new drug could replace aggressive cancer therapies
The drug works by dismantling a crucial defence mechanism used by tumours, specifically targeting the heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) protein produced by macrophages that shield tumours.
Initial trials conducted on mice demonstrated that KCL-HO-1i made chemotherapy-resistant tumours responsive to treatment.
Researchers at King's College London, who developed the drug, are hopeful for human trials to begin within two years.
This new medicine could potentially serve as a valuable companion drug to chemotherapy, sparing patients from more aggressive interventions.
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Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
A&E waits fuel 4,000 attacks on NHS staff a year: One worker is attacked every two hours in 'tinder box' hospitals as nurses face violence and gun threats
NHS staff are facing 'utterly abhorrent' levels of violence in A&E – with one worker attacked every two hours, damning figures reveal today. Middle-class patients and their families are among those driven to rage by long waits and dehumanising care in corridors, the Royal College of Nursing said. It warned that its members were physically and mentally scarred after being punched, spat at – and even threatened with guns. Many have been forced to take time off to recover, with some too traumatised to return. The nurses' union warned that the Government's ten-year plan to reform the Health Service will 'fail completely' without action to protect and retain staff. In all, 89 hospital trusts responded to a Freedom of Information request from the RCN, revealing that they recorded 4,054 reports of physical violence against A&E staff last year – almost double the 2,093 in 2019. It means 11 members of A&E staff are attacked on average every day in England. However, the true figure is likely to be even higher as just 69 per cent of NHS acute trusts responded to the RCN, and they were only asked for figures for their biggest A&E. Meanwhile, a separate analysis by the RCN shows that incidents of patients having to wait more than 12 hours in A&E increased 20-fold between 2019 and 2024. The news comes as: Nine in ten pharmacies are victims of shoplifting, with strong painkillers among the drugs being targeted. Victims' minister Alex Davies-Jones admitted shoplifting had 'got out of hand' after police ordered a store to remove a sign calling thieves 'scumbags'. Sarah Pochin, Reform UK's only female MP, said it was 'no surprise' that vigilante groups were patrolling the streets as immigration led to fears for women's safety. Rachelle McCarthy, a senior charge nurse from the East Midlands, was punched 'square in the face' by a 'drunk, 6ft 2in bloke'. She said: 'Even patients you would expect to be placid are becoming irate because of just how long they have to wait. You can only imagine the behaviour of those who are already prone to violence.' A senior A&E nurse based in east London said her hospital was a 'tinder box' for violence. She has seen colleagues punched, kicked and had a gun pointed at them, while she had been spat at by a patient and threatened with an acid attack. She said she became depressed and anxious and took a research role to take a break from nursing, adding: 'The violence I saw made me become more fearful outside work. I saw how volatile people can be.' Sarah Pochin (pictured), Reform UK's only female MP, said it was 'no surprise' that vigilante groups were patrolling the streets as immigration led to fears for women's safety A senior A&E nurse in the South West said a patient 'pinned a nurse up against a wall' and another punched a member of staff 'in the groin and stomach'. She added: 'It's not going to help with our retention and recruitment if you think you're going to be clobbered every shift.' Sarah Tappy, a senior A&E sister in east London, was punched in the head and knocked unconscious by a patient, leaving her with anxiety and PTSD. 'The violence is awful,' she said. 'And it's just constant. None of us feel safe.' At Maidstone Hospital in Kent, incidents rose by more than 500 per cent, from 13 in 2019 to 89 in 2024, while at Manchester Royal Infirmary, attacks rose from 39 to 79. In April, Health Secretary Wes Streeting pledged to 'keep NHS staff safe' by implementing mandatory hospital-level reporting of violence against staff, saying that 'protecting staff from violence is not an optional extra'. However, the RCN says the Government 'needs to do more than just record the shocking levels of violence'. Professor Nicola Ranger, RCN general secretary, said: 'Behind these shocking figures lies an ugly truth. Dedicated and hard-working staff face rising attacks because of systemic failures that are no fault of their own. Nursing staff not only go to work underpaid and undervalued but face a rising tide of violence. It leads to physical and mental scarring, lengthy time off and sometimes staff never returning. 'You can't fix the Health Service when vital staff are too scared to go into work. 'Unless the Government does something about lengthy waits, corridor care and understaffed nursing teams, more staff will become victims of this utterly abhorrent behaviour. Left unaddressed, this could see plans to reform the NHS fail.' Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents trusts said: 'These findings are absolutely shocking.' Rebecca Smith, of NHS Employers, said: 'No one should have to face violence at work – it is totally unacceptable.' Mr Streeting said: 'I am appalled. Nurses dedicate their lives to helping others and deserve to go about their jobs free from violence. Anyone who violates this core principle will feel the full force of the law.'
The Independent
40 minutes ago
- The Independent
Annual Perseid meteor shower to reach dazzling peak on Tuesday night
Shooting stars will be visible across the UK in the annual Perseid meteor shower that reaches its dazzling peak on Tuesday night. Every summer the Earth slams into a trail of debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet that also orbits the Sun. Specks as small as a grain of dust or rice flare up under the pressure of the planet's atmosphere to create shooting stars, said Royal Observatory Greenwich astronomer Dr Ed Bloomer. Around 150 meteors will cross the sky per hour but that amount will not be visible because the horizon blocks a full view of the sky, he added. However, an estimated 100 meteors could be seen per hour in certain locations that are particularly flat and dark. The meteor shower has been running for a few weeks and will continue until around August 24, the astronomer told the PA news agency. He said this means that 'we have lots of chances to see this' but 'you have to let your eyes adjust to the dark'. Dr Bloomer recommended stargazers wait half an hour to let their eyes get used to it, adding: 'Take a camping chair or something – if you had one, you would just sit down, and you would just relax, and you would just wait. 'You want to get away from city lights, you want to get away from street lamps. 'If you're looking out from your garden – it sounds obvious – but switch the kitchen light off, give yourself time to just put the phone away.' People struggling to see the meteors can turn and watch through their peripheral vision as it is 'a little bit better with low light conditions', he said. As it is summer, viewers will also have to wait until relatively late at night for it to be dark enough to see the celestial show. The astronomer added: 'For us, it's kind of one of the best (meteor showers), it's kind of reliable, it's long lived, it's quite dense… it's pretty active. 'You don't need to really be in a very specific location, the hourly rate is fairly high, so I think even beginners will be I think satisfied having seen them.' The weather is largely clear but early in the week the almost-full waning moon could make Perseid less visible. The meteor shower will be in the north-east as the sun is going down, Dr Bloomer added. He said: 'However, it's not available to everybody, because the further south you go… Perseid is lower and lower on the horizon. 'The primary interest is for Northern Hemisphere observers – Perseid is pretty low for us here in the UK, but it is above the horizon… in fact, it's above the horizon all day, but the problem is, of course, during the day, nothing's going to be visible.' Despite it being more visible in the north 'the dominant thing is going to be, can you get yourself in a dark location', he added. 'Getting into the middle of a field in the south east of England, in London, is going to be better than being in the middle of Aberdeen.' Shooting stars generally only last a second or two and sometimes appear in flurries, the astronomer said. Rarer meteors the size of a fist or basketball will produce longer tails and are known as fireballs, he added. These can last five to 10 seconds, but Dr Bloomer said he has only ever seen one. The level up is a bolide but 'that's a sort of national emergency type thing', he added.
Daily Mail
40 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
A load of hot air! Health officials are branded 'nanny state' after issuing two-day 'danger to life' alert for UK heatwave
Health officials have been branded 'nanny state' after issuing a two-day 'danger to life' health alert for a brief heatwave starting tomorrow. An amber alert has been issued across the Midlands, East Anglia, London and South East for tomorrow and Wednesday. Yellow warnings apply elsewhere in England. Britain is set to be hotter than Barbados, with temperatures in the low 30s Celsius (high 80s Fahrenheit) across England and Wales – potentially reaching 34C (93F) in parts of the West Midlands. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said there could be a 'rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions', and care providers have been warned of 'likely increased demand'. Health officials have recommended closing windows and curtains in rooms facing the sun to keep them cool, wearing a hat and sunglasses and covering up to protect from sunburn, and exercising in the morning or evening 'when it is cooler'. Professor Karol Sikora, the former director of a World Health Organisation programme, said the warnings were 'complete nanny state'. Of the UKHSA, he added: 'They are trying to justify their existence. Torremolinos [on the Spanish Costa del Sol] is full of oldies like me basking in the sun.' Meanwhile, former Conservative minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said: 'I suggest people put on a Panama hat and drink a glass of refreshing Pimm's while ignoring those wastrels at the UKHSA who would be more use if they joined the junior doctors on strike.' The alert applies from 9am tomorrow until 6pm Wednesday, after which temperatures are due to drop into the high 20s Celsius (low 80s Farenheit), but they could still hit 30C (86F) in southern England on Friday. It is the fourth heatwave the UK has experienced this summer and it comes after the warmest June and fifth warmest July since records began. Tory MP Sir John Hayes, chairman of the backbench Common Sense group, said: 'Everyone knows about putting on a sun hat, making sure elderly people don't stay in the sun too long. 'They don't need some official issuing a diktat about how hot it has to be before they need to go indoors. It's a crazy manifestation of a very strange age.' His comments came as other parts of Europe have sweltered in temperatures higher than 40C over the past week. More than 1,400 people were forced to flee their homes in north-west Spain yesterday as wildfires spread fast, driven by scorching temperatures and fierce winds. The alert applies from 9am tomorrow until 6pm Wednesday, after which temperatures are due to drop into the high 20s Celsius (low 80s Farenheit), but they could still hit 30C (86F) in southern England on Friday. It is the fourth heatwave the UK has experienced this summer Meanwhile, in Portugal, firefighters were struggling to contain a huge blaze they had initially declared contained. Eleven people were confirmed injured while many others were treated for smoke inhalation. Hot air is being drawn towards the UK by the remains of Storm Dexter in the Atlantic and a southerly air flow bringing temperatures north from France and Spain. Officials also warned last night that England is suffering from 'nationally significant' water shortfalls, despite rain last month. The National Drought Group met as five areas of the country remain in drought and six more in prolonged dry weather status. The lack of water is hitting crop yields, reducing feed for livestock, damaging wildlife and increasing wildfires, the group said.
