Drugs mix may halt prostate cancer
Drugs mix may halt prostate cancer
2008-04-15Newsfeed
Prostate cancer may be prevented using a mix of drugs prescribed for completely different ailments, a recent study suggests.
Prostate cancer may be prevented using a mix of drugs prescribed for completely different ailments, a recent study suggests.
Tests showed that the anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex, used to combat the affects of arthritis, and the statin Lipitor, used to control high cholesterol, may prevent early prostate cancer switching to a more aggressive and invasive state.
Scientists who initially tested the theory on mice hope the same strategy will be saving human lives within five years.
The results, presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in San Diego, US, show the drug combination appears to keep the cancer dependent on the male sex hormone testosterone for growth.
Early prostate cancer can often be held at bay for years with anti-hormone therapy which lowers production of testosterone or blocks its action on tumours.
However, at some stage the cancer generally moves into a new phase which does not require the hormone.
Professor Xi Zheng, one of the researchers from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, said: "A combination of low doses of Lipitor and Celebrex had a more potent inhibiting effect on the formation of later stage tumours than a higher dose of either agent alone."
Copyright © The Press Association 2008
