Drugs are often developed with a specific goal in mind and their development undergoes a tedious process. On average, it takes more than a decade to get approval, while most drugs fail to make it that far.
During that lengthy and tedious process, drugs, which are intended for a specific condition, could show some surprising effects on different conditions. For instance, sildenafil, a drug that was originally intended for treating pulmonary arterial hypertension, was accidentally found to help men achieve an erection, and since then, it is predominantly used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.
Keeping such accidental and surprising events in mind, oncology researchers have now been focusing on “drug repositioning” in search of a cancer cure.
There are a couple of advantages of drug repositioning. First, the active ingredients have been found safe and effective after undergoing a tedious research and approval process. Second, further development of the already approved drug is easier, faster, and cheaper than the development of a new drug.
Scientists at UT Southwestern Simmons Cancer Center have recently discovered a drug combination designed to target and stop the growth of cancer cells.
Oncology researchers from the University of Bergen, Norway, examined hundreds of different drugs over several years to see whether they have any effect on cancer cells. They discovered that a drug prescribed to treat infections caused by parasites, such as giardia and tapeworms, contains a substance called NTZ (nitazoxanide), which can be effective at treating colon and prostate cancer.
Lead researchers Karl-Henning Kalland said, “We discovered that this specific substance blocks the signaling pathway in cancer cells and causes them to stop growing.”
A study published in the journal Nature Cancer has found that approximately 50 approved and safe drugs have unrecognized anticancer properties.
Director of the cancer program at Broad Institute Dr. Todd Golub said, “We thought we’d be lucky if we found even a single compound with anti-cancer properties, but we were surprised to find so many.” However, the researcher explained the need for further investigation by conducting more studies.
