Drug Cocktail Could Halt Prostate Cancer

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Drug cocktail 'could halt prostate cancer'

By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent

Last Updated: 1:26am BST 15/04/2008

Prostate cancer could be halted by combining two drugs commonly used to treat cholesterol and arthritis, new research has shown.

Patients could be offered the treatment within five years, according to scientists who carried out the study.

advertisementThe findings are being viewed as a significant breakthrough. Prostate cancer affects more men in the UK than any other cancer. About 35,000 are diagnosed every year and a third go on to die from the disease.

The combination of Celebrex, an anti-inflammatory drug, and the statin Lipitor kept the cancer in its less aggressive early stage in tests on mice.

Dr Allan Conney, from Rutgers University in New Jersey, which carried out the research, said: "This is something we hope is going to save lives. If clinical trials go well, we could have something available in five years.

"If the trials show that the drug therapy does a good job of preventing the cancer from advancing, we won't need to worry about how to handle the more aggressive later stage cancer."

Early stage prostate cancer grows relatively slowly and is non-aggressive. Thousands of men live with it for years before displaying symptoms.

As it progresses, it becomes more aggressive and invasive, entering the bones and other parts of the body and often becoming difficult to treat.

Scientists found that by giving mice Celebrex and Lipitor they could prevent development into the later form of the disease.

Early-stage tumours rely on testosterone to grow and during this time a milder treatment, anti-hormone therapy, can be used to stop the spread.

Scientists say that by using statins and anti-inflammatory drugs together, it holds the cancer in the early stages, making it easier to treat.

Professor Xi Zheng, another researcher, said that low doses of Lipitor and Celebrex had a "potent inhibiting effect" on the formation of later-stage tumours.

The results, presented yesterday to the American Association for Cancer Research in San Diego, California, showed that a combination of both drugs could be an "effective strategy".

High doses of Celebrex have been associated with small increases in the risk of developing heart disease but Prof Zheng said that, for prostate cancer patients, the benefits of treatment outweighed possible risks.

John Neate, the chief executive of The Prostate Cancer Charity, said: "If the trials are successful, this would be a welcome addition."

Dr Emma Campbell, the science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said the results of the study had not been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal and a lot more work was needed.