Anti-psychotic drugs may fight cancer.Byline: ANI Washington, Aug 13 (ANI): Anti-psychotic drugs could help treat some major cancers, a new research has revealed. According to a preliminary finding in the current online issue of the International Journal of Cancer, the anti-psychotic drug, pimozide pimozide /pi·mo·zide/ an antipsychotic and antidyskinetic agent used in the treatment of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. pim·o·zide n. , kills lung, breast and brain cancer cells in in-vitro laboratory experiments. In the new study, pimozide was the most lethal of six anti-psychotic drugs tested by a team from UNSW UNSW University of New South Wales (Australia) UNSW Unidentified Swallow UNSW United Nations Scholars' Workstation (Yale University) and the University of Queensland The University of Queensland (UQ) is the longest-established university in the state of Queensland, Australia, a member of Australia's Group of Eight, and the Sandstone Universities. It is also a founding member of the international Universitas 21 organisation. . Rapidly-dividing cancer cells require cholesterol and lipids to grow and the researchers suspect that pimozide kills cancer cells by blocking the synthesis or movement of cholesterol and lipid in cancer cells. Analysis of gene expression in test cancer cells showed that genes involved in the synthesis and uptake of cholesterol and lipids were boosted when pimozide was introduced. To test the idea that pimozide acts by disrupting cholesterol homeostasis homeostasis Any self-regulating process by which a biological or mechanical system maintains stability while adjusting to changing conditions. Systems in dynamic equilibrium reach a balance in which internal change continuously compensates for external change in a feedback , the researchers combined pimozide with mevastatin, a drug that inhibits cholesterol production in cells. The two drugs were more lethal in combination against cancer cells than when either drug was used alone. "The combination of pimozide and mevastatin increased cancer cell death," says UNSW researcher Dr Louise Lutze-Mann, a co-author of the study. "We needed a lower dose of each drug to kill the same amount of cells," the expert added. Although side-effects are associated with the use of high doses of these drugs - such as tremors, muscle spasms and slurred speech - these effects are considered to be tolerable in patients where other treatments have failed and the drugs will only be used short-term. These side-effects would be reduced if the drugs were used in combination with a lipid-lowering drug, such as mevastatin. The researchers have also investigated the effects of olazapine , a "second-generation" antipsychotic antipsychotic /an·ti·psy·chot·ic/ (-si-kot´ik) effective in the treatment of psychotic disorders; also, an agent that so acts. Antipsychotics are a chemically diverse but pharmacologically similar class of drugs; besides psychotic drug, and found that it also kills cancer cells but has a better side-effect profile. When administered to patients, it accumulates in the lung, which suggests that it may prove to be most useful in treating lung cancer lung cancer, cancer that originates in the tissues of the lungs. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States in both men and women. Like other cancers, lung cancer occurs after repeated insults to the genetic material of the cell. . (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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