PNC-27 is a fragment of p53, the tumour suppressor protein, fused to a sequence that carries it across membranes. The claim behind it is specific and unusual: that it binds HDM-2 on the surface of cancer cells and forms pores, killing them directly, while sparing normal cells that do not display HDM-2 at the membrane.
The laboratory work behind that claim is real. Published cell-culture studies show selective killing of cancer cell lines with normal cells left intact, and that selectivity is what makes it interesting rather than merely cytotoxic.
It has never been tested in a human being. Not a phase 1, not a case series, nothing. And it is sold, at considerable prices, largely to people who have just had a cancer diagnosis. That is why this page is written the way it is. The gap between selective killing in a dish and a treatment is where essentially every cancer drug candidate in history has failed, and the people most drawn to this compound are the ones with least room to absorb that failure.
How it works
The p53-derived segment binds HDM-2, a protein that cancer cells are reported to display on their outer membrane and normal cells largely do not. That differential display is the entire basis of the selectivity claim.
Fused to a membrane-crossing sequence, the bound peptide is proposed to form pores in the membrane, causing the cell to die by leakage rather than by any signalling pathway. That is a physical mechanism, not a regulatory one.
In cell culture this produces selective killing of tumour lines. Whether enough peptide survives in a body, reaches a tumour, and preserves that selectivity among the many cell types in a person is the question no study has approached.
Membrane-disrupting peptides are not gentle molecules. Selectivity that holds in a dish of two cell types is a much weaker claim than selectivity that holds in a person.
Regulatory status — United States
Not approved anywhere, and never studied in a human trial for any indication. Sold as a research chemical. Marketing it as a cancer treatment is not supported by any human evidence.
Last reviewed 18 Aug 2026. Regulatory positions in this category change frequently; we date this line so you can see how current it is.
What it is studied for
Each entry states the evidence behind it. We do not rank indications by effectiveness — for most compounds here, that would be a claim nobody can support.
Cancer
Published reviewWhat it is sold for.
EvidenceSelective killing of cancer cell lines in culture, and some animal work. No human trial of any kind has been conducted. No phase 1, no case series.
Identity and clearance
Molecule
- Class
- p53-derived peptide fused to a membrane-penetrating sequence
- Length
- 32 amino acids
Dose protocols reported in sources
Displayed for reference only. Every row says where it came from, and a trial protocol and a community convention are not the same kind of information. None of this is fed into the calculator, and none of it is a recommendation.
| Goal | Dose | Frequency | Route | Units, 5 mg vial | Source | Start this protocol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commonly described community protocol | 1 mg – 5 mg | Daily, in courses | SubcutaneousThere is no trial behind any figure here, in any species, at any dose. These numbers circulate without a source. | 20–100 u | Community practice | Start this |
Start this copies a row into a protocol of your own, which you can then edit. Where a source gave a dose range or an ambiguous frequency, those fields arrive empty — we will not pick a number on your behalf.
CheckRows marked community practice describe what people commonly do, drawn from public discussion. They are not derived from any trial and are not evidence that a dose is safe or effective.
Calculator
Work out what to draw
Pre-filled with a 10 mg vial as a worked example. These are not recommended values — change them to match the vial in front of you.
Draw to 40 units on a 1 mL U-100 syringe. That is 0.4 mL, containing 2 mg of PNC-27.
40 units sits exactly on a printed line.
Bioalmanac performs arithmetic on values you enter. It does not recommend doses, schedules or compounds, and nothing here is medical advice. Confirm every calculation against your vial and syringe before drawing, and speak with a licensed healthcare provider.
Open this calculation in the full calculator
Units, concentration, bacteriostatic water — the glossary defines the vocabulary, and a unit is not a fixed volume.
Safety
Reported effects
- EverythingCommunity practice
Unknown
No human has ever been studied on this compound. No adverse event has been recorded because nobody has looked.
- Membrane damage to cells that are not cancerPublished review
Mechanistically possible, unquantified
The selectivity claim rests on differential HDM-2 display observed in culture. Whether it holds across every tissue in a body is exactly what has not been tested.
- Tumour lysis effectsPublished review
Unknown
If it killed tumour cells at scale, the metabolic consequences of that would themselves be dangerous and require monitoring nobody self-administering has.
When to stop
- Any acute reaction: fever, breathlessness, chest pain, collapse. Seek emergency care.
- Dark urine, reduced urine output, or confusion.
- Any allergic response: rash, hives, facial swelling or difficulty breathing. Seek urgent care.
- Any deterioration in a diagnosed condition. Tell your oncology team what you have taken.
Interactions and situations that need care
- Using it instead of, or alongside, cancer treatmentAvoid
This is the situation the compound is sold for and the one where it does most harm. There is no human evidence of any kind. Delaying or displacing treatment that has evidence behind it — for one that has none — costs time that in oncology is not recoverable. If you are taking it alongside treatment, your oncology team needs to know. Unlisted compounds interact with chemotherapy and confound the assessment of whether treatment is working.
- Intravenous self-administrationAvoid
Injecting an uncharacterised membrane-disrupting peptide directly into the bloodstream, outside a clinical setting, removes every barrier that would otherwise slow a severe reaction.
- Pregnancy and breastfeedingAvoid
A compound designed to lyse cells has no version of appropriate use in pregnancy, and no safety data exists.
What to expect
HonestlyThere is no human efficacy data for this compound, so there is no evidence-based timeline to give. Any site publishing a week-by-week schedule of expected effects has invented it.
- No human has ever been studied on this compound. There is no phase 1 and no published case series.
- The cell-culture work is real, and selective killing in a dish is where nearly every cancer drug candidate in history has also looked promising.
- It is sold mainly to people who have just had a diagnosis. That is the context in which an untested compound does the most damage, because the alternative it displaces is time-critical.
- If you are taking it, tell your oncology team. Not for permission. Because it can interact with treatment, and confuse the reading of whether that treatment is working.
Storage and handling
- Freeze-dried powder
- Refrigerated at 2–8 °C, protected from light.
- After mixing
- Refrigerated at 2–8 °C. Do not freeze once mixed.
- Long-term, frozen
- Unopened powder is stable at −20 °C or colder.
Checking your vial
Research chemicals carry no manufacturing standard, so what the vial looks like is often the only quality signal available before you use it. More on assessing quality and COAs.
White cake, clear solution
Standard for a lyophilised peptide.
Collapsed cake or cloudy solution
Heat damage or degradation. Do not use it.
Questions
- Does it really kill only cancer cells?
- In cell culture it selectively killed tumour lines while sparing normal cells, which is a genuine published finding. Whether that selectivity survives contact with a whole body — with its many cell types — its circulation and its immune response, has never been tested in anything approaching a human trial.
- Has anyone taken it?
- People buy and use it. What does not exist is any study recording what happened to them. Anecdote from vendors and forums is not the same as a case series, and it systematically under-reports the outcomes nobody wants to post about.
References
PNC-27: HDM-2 binding and selective membrane lysis of cancer cell lines
Cancer cell biology literature, 2010 · Cell culture studies with some animal work
In vitro, with rodent models
Selective killing of cancer cell lines attributed to binding membrane-displayed HDM-2 and forming pores, with normal cells reported largely unaffected. No human trials of any kind have been conducted.
Commonly reported community protocols
Bioalmanac editorial summary of public community sources, 2026 · Not a study
Records dose and route patterns described in public discussion. Carries no evidential weight about safety or effect.
Related compounds
GHK-Cu
A naturally occurring copper-binding tripeptide with a long history in topical skincare research. Injected use is not what the research studied.
Ipamorelin
A selective growth hormone secretagogue that prompts a short pulse of GH release. Widely used, and supported almost entirely by early pharmacology rather than outcome trials.
CJC-1295
A GHRH analogue that raises growth hormone by amplifying the body's own release signal. Sold in two forms whose durations differ by two orders of magnitude.
Tesamorelin
A GHRH analogue approved by the FDA for reducing excess visceral fat in HIV-associated lipodystrophy. The only compound in this category with completed phase 3 trials.
Next
What to do with PNC-27
- Keep a record of itTurn a dose and a schedule into a protocol, then log what you actually take. PNC-27 is filled in for you.
- See what it costsPer-milligram prices read from vendor sites and confirmed by a person, so vial sizes compare.
- Check a combinationWhat our profiles record about PNC-27 alongside each other compound — including the pairs where nothing is recorded.
Keep this page honest
If something here is wrong, out of date, or missing a source, tell us and we will fix it and say that we did.
This page is educational. It describes what published research reports, not what you should do. Peptides discussed here are largely not approved for human use, and nothing on Bioalmanac is medical advice. No clinician reviews these pages.
Page last updated 18 Aug 2026