Scientists Use Cancer Cells’ Own Carbon Monoxide to Make Anticancer Compounds

Researchers in Japan have demonstrated an unusual approach to cancer research: using a substance produced by cancer cells as a raw material to manufacture an anticancer compound inside those cells.

The team, led by Katsunori Tanaka at the RIKEN Pioneering Research Institute and involving researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo, published the findings in Nature Communications on September 17, 2026. The work establishes an early laboratory proof of concept.

Carbon monoxide is widely known as a poisonous gas, but the body also produces small amounts naturally. Many cancer cells generate more of it than normal cells. The researchers sought to use that difference to support a chemical reaction where an anticancer compound is needed.

Their system places a palladium-containing compound inside albumin, a protein found in blood. Albumin protects the compound from substances that would otherwise interfere with its activity. Inside cells, the system uses carbon monoxide as a chemical building block to form another molecule.

Experiments involving liver, breast, lung, and cervical cancer cell lines demonstrated this chemistry. A normal fibroblast cell line produced much less of the reaction product.

Separate treatment experiments used an adapted system to manufacture an anticancer compound inside liver cancer cells, producing a toxic effect. The system also reduced the ability of breast cancer cells to form colonies. These treatment findings should be distinguished from the chemical-reaction experiments across all four cancer types.

The authors described the anticancer potency and the difference between effects on cancer and normal cells as modest. Although the normal-cell comparison is encouraging, it does not establish safety throughout the human body.

The broader goal is to manufacture active medicines directly at a disease site, potentially limiting exposure elsewhere. If that approach eventually succeeds in patients, it could help address a central challenge in cancer care: treating malignant cells while reducing damage to healthy tissue.

For now, the research remains at the cell-culture stage. Animal models are the next step, and the study does not demonstrate a safe or effective treatment in people.

For patients and families, the findings offer a reason to follow the science with interest. Whether this strategy can improve treatment outcomes remains an open question.