British researchers say the new approach could be tested in patients within two years, potentially giving them the ability to stop cancers growing and spreading.
The scientists made the breakthrough after discovered a molecule which plays a key role in aggressive prostate cancer.
Crucially, the academics from Bristol and Nottingham universities have already worked out how to neutralise the dangerous molecule.
The treatment, delivered by an injection, has already been shown to halt the growth of prostate tumours in mice.
And scientists are confident the procedure can be replicated in humans, with a British firm investigating how to turn it into a clinical treatment.
The findings, published yesterday in the Oncogene medical journal, rests on the investigation of a molecule called SRPK1.
The scientists found that the molecule enables the tumour to form new blood vessels.
Tumours need a supply of nutrient-enriched blood to survive, grow and spread.
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