Scientists have found a way to trick cancer cells into committing suicide, according to the results published Monday in Nature Chemical Biology.

The new synthetic compound, which removes a molecular safety catch that activates a natural executioner in the body's cells, could lead to better treatments of cancers including those affecting the lung, skin, breast, kidney and colon.

The body has several defenses against cells growing out of control and into tumors -- one is to cause defective or dangerous cells to commit suicide. This natural process of cell death, called apoptosis, involves a protein called procaspase-3.

When activated, procaspase-3 changes into an enzyme called caspase-3, which begins the cell death. In cancers, this mechanism is often faulty and cells can grow unchecked. Many types of cancer are resistant not only to the body's own signals for cell death but also to the chemotherapy drugs that try to mimic it.

Scientists hope their discovery, which they named PAC1, will lead to new treatments for a wide range of cancers.

Study leader Professor Paul Hergenrother, of Illinois University, said: "We can use the cancer cells' own machinery to destroy themselves.

"This is the first in what could be a host of organic compounds with the ability to directly activate executioner enzymes."

In the laboratory, PAC-1 killed various types of cancer cells containing a compound called procaspase-3.

These included cells affecting the lung and colon.

(Xinhua News Agency August 29, 2006)