Heart Drug May Help Fight Cancer
Heart Drug May Help Fight Cancer
According to a recent report in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, a prescription drug used for decades in the treatment
of congestive heart failure may also turn out to be an effective
cancer-fighting medicine. The drug is digoxin, and its effect in preventing
cancer is being evaluated. It is thought that a protein called HIF-1
helps cancer cells survive in the body when available oxygen levels are
low. It is thought by some researchers that dixogin reduces the amount of
HIF-1 in the body, leading to slower growth and eventual death of cancer
cells.
The report indicates that scientists at Johns Hopkins University evaluated
several thousand FDA approved drugs. They found 20 that significantly
reduced HIF-1, digoxin being one. It was tested in the laboratory
and found to slow the growth of prostate cancer cells. Some of the cancer
cells stopped growing all together. Those conducting these studies indicate
that more research needs to be conducted to determine how digoxin
and other digitalis-type drugs lower the protein that seems to be necessary
for certain types of cancer cells to survive.