The Cancer Research UK-funded study, published in Nature Communications, observe the outcome of the drug atovaquone on tumors with low oxygen levels in mice to notice that it would be helpful to treat cancer. According to research the drug decreases the speed at which cancer cells use oxygen by targeting the mitochondria which is the main powerhouses of the cell that make energy, a method that utilizes oxygen.
As radiotherapy works by damaging the DNA in cells, and a good supply of oxygen decreases the capability of cancer cells to fix broken DNA, tumors with low oxygen levels are more complicated to treat effectively with radiotherapy. By slow down the use of oxygen, atovaquone therefore reverses the low-oxygen levels in almost all of the tumors. The fully-oxygenated tumors are more effortlessly destroyed by radiotherapy.
The drug was revealed to be useful in a extensive range of cancers, including lung, bowel, brain, head and neck cancer.
“This is a stimulating result. We have now started a clinical trial in Oxford to see if we can prove the same results in cancer patients. We expect that this accessible low cost drug will mean that resistant tumors can be re-sensitized to radiotherapy. And we’re using a drug that we already know is safe,” said Lead author, Professor Gillies McKenna, at the Cancer Research UK/Medical Research Council Institute for Radiation Oncology in Oxford.
According to Dr Emma Smith, Cancer Research UK’s science information manager, “The types of cancer that tend to have oxygen dispossessed regions are often more difficult to treat – such as lung, bowel, brain and head and neck cancer. Looking at the cancer-fighting properties of existing medicines is a very important area of research where medical charities can make a big blow and is a main concern for Cancer Research UK. Clinical trials will tell us whether this drug could help recover treatment options for patients with these types of tumor.”
Date: 25th July 2016
http://www.pharmatimes.com/news/anti-malaria_drug_could_help_fight_cancer_1080660