Cancer breakthrough.Byline: By Alison Dayani HEALTH CORRESPONDENT BIRMINGHAM scientists have made a dramatic breakthrough that could see a cure for a common fatal form of cancer. They have discovered that drugs currently used to treat Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as Parkinson's disease. could offer new possibilities in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The cancer of the white blood cells White blood cells A group of several cell types that occur in the bloodstream and are essential for a properly functioning immune system. Mentioned in: Abscess Incision & Drainage, Bone Marrow Transplantation, Complement Deficiencies affects 10,000 people in the UK every year with devastating results. Scientific work, supported by Leukaemia Research, found that two commonly used Parkinson's drugs were capable of killing lymphoma cells in laboratory experiments. Dr David Grant, scientific director at Leukaemia Research, said: "This is opening up a whole new area of research." Scientists found that non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cells were killed on contact with dopamine dopamine (dōp`əmēn), one of the intermediate substances in the biosynthesis of epinephrine and norepinephrine. See catecholamine. dopamine One of the catecholamines, widely distributed in the central nervous system. - a naturally occurring chemical. People with Parkinson's disease have lower levels of dopamine and so have to take drugs developed to mimic its effects. The study found these drugs were as effective as dopamine in killing cancerous cells too. |
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