A sister-company of Oxford University is developing a new cancer treatment that can reprogram cancer cells to shrink tumours the university announced yesterday.

The company, called Argonaut and based at Oxford Science Park, is focusing on the treatments for colorectal cancer and lymphoma.

Researchers hopes to develop a ‘switch’ that directs cells to either grow and divide or die and activate ‘cell death mode’ which could in turn shrink potentially fatal tumours.

The company plans to undertake clinical trials at the Churchill Hospital.