Agencies, London :
The combination of a cholesterol-lowering drug and a contraceptive steroid could be an effective, non-toxic treatment for a range of cancers, says a new research.
The researchers found that the drug combination kills cancer cells in a completely new way. It blocks an enzyme crucial to the production of fatty acids, which cancer cells need to grow and multiply.
“Developing drugs to target the fatty acid building blocks of cancer cells has been a promising area of research in recent years. It is very exciting we have identified these non-toxic drugs already sitting on pharmacy shelves,” said lead researcher Andrew Southam from the University of Birmingham in Britain.
Early stage clinical trials of the drugs in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a type of blood cancer, have shown promising results, with survival three months longer on average than standard palliative care.
The combination, known as BaP, has also been used alongside chemotherapy to successfully treat children with Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL), the most common childhood cancer in Eastern Africa.
The combination of a cholesterol-lowering drug and a contraceptive steroid could be an effective, non-toxic treatment for a range of cancers, says a new research.
The researchers found that the drug combination kills cancer cells in a completely new way. It blocks an enzyme crucial to the production of fatty acids, which cancer cells need to grow and multiply.
“Developing drugs to target the fatty acid building blocks of cancer cells has been a promising area of research in recent years. It is very exciting we have identified these non-toxic drugs already sitting on pharmacy shelves,” said lead researcher Andrew Southam from the University of Birmingham in Britain.
Early stage clinical trials of the drugs in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a type of blood cancer, have shown promising results, with survival three months longer on average than standard palliative care.
The combination, known as BaP, has also been used alongside chemotherapy to successfully treat children with Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL), the most common childhood cancer in Eastern Africa.
