A daily dose of statins has “been shown to block the growth and spread of tumours,” according to the Daily Express. The newspaper reported that common cholesterol-lowering drugs “could be the key to beating cancer”.
The news is based on laboratory research into the role of a specific genetic mutation in the development of breast cancer. The research was mainly carried out in cell cultures, and did not test drugs on humans.
During their experiment researchers grew cells generated from breast cancer tumours carrying the mutation, which is often found in cancers. The researchers then interfered with the effects of this gene mutation, leading approximately half the cells to revert to a more normal structure.
Exploring this phenomenon further they then identified how this gene affects the cells, and tested drugs to interfere with this mechanism. Treating the breast cancer cells with simvastatin, a commonly used statin drug, reduced cancer cell growth and increased cancer cell death to an even greater extent than interfering with the gene mutation alone.
Commenting on the study, cancer expert Marc Symons said, "This paper unravels a mechanism whereby p53, a frequently mutated cancer gene, promotes the aberrant behavior of cancer cells."
The mutated protein stimulates the mevalonate pathway, explained Symons, an investigator at the Center for Oncology and Cell Biology at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y.
"Statins, drugs that are widely used to lower cholesterol levels, block a key step in the mevalonate pathway," Symons said. "The new results may well give new momentum to the use of statins as anti-cancer agents."
Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, is also intrigued by the potential of the new findings.
"This paper addresses a possible new target for therapeutic agents based on a well-known tumor suppressor gene that is common in many cancers," Bernik said. "Identifying novel pathways that lead to tumor formation is the first step to developing new drugs that can specifically target some of the complex mechanisms that contribute to the development of cancer," she pointed out.
"This work and other projects like this raise the hope that we will one day be able to cure cancers on a molecular level," Bernik said.
The news is based on laboratory research into the role of a specific genetic mutation in the development of breast cancer. The research was mainly carried out in cell cultures, and did not test drugs on humans.
During their experiment researchers grew cells generated from breast cancer tumours carrying the mutation, which is often found in cancers. The researchers then interfered with the effects of this gene mutation, leading approximately half the cells to revert to a more normal structure.
Exploring this phenomenon further they then identified how this gene affects the cells, and tested drugs to interfere with this mechanism. Treating the breast cancer cells with simvastatin, a commonly used statin drug, reduced cancer cell growth and increased cancer cell death to an even greater extent than interfering with the gene mutation alone.
Commenting on the study, cancer expert Marc Symons said, "This paper unravels a mechanism whereby p53, a frequently mutated cancer gene, promotes the aberrant behavior of cancer cells."
The mutated protein stimulates the mevalonate pathway, explained Symons, an investigator at the Center for Oncology and Cell Biology at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y.
"Statins, drugs that are widely used to lower cholesterol levels, block a key step in the mevalonate pathway," Symons said. "The new results may well give new momentum to the use of statins as anti-cancer agents."
Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, is also intrigued by the potential of the new findings.
"This paper addresses a possible new target for therapeutic agents based on a well-known tumor suppressor gene that is common in many cancers," Bernik said. "Identifying novel pathways that lead to tumor formation is the first step to developing new drugs that can specifically target some of the complex mechanisms that contribute to the development of cancer," she pointed out.
"This work and other projects like this raise the hope that we will one day be able to cure cancers on a molecular level," Bernik said.
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