Against depression and cancer
Antidepressants cured pancreatic and intestinal cancer
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
Although scientists have long known about the important role of serotonin in the development of cancer, the underlying mechanisms were still unknown. Now the team from Switzerland has managed not only to identify them, but also to achieve impressive results of the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the treatment of cancer.
The neurotransmitter serotonin, which is also called the hormone of happiness, is usually reduced in people with depression. In addition to regulating mood, serotonin also affects many other body functions. So, most of it is not in the brain, but is stored in blood platelets. SSRIs used in the treatment of depression increase the level of the hormone in the brain and reduce it in the blood.
New research by a team from the University of Zurich has shown that SSRIs and other drugs that reduce peripheral serotonin levels are able to slow down and stop cancer growth in preclinical models.
Scientists have found that cancer cells use serotonin to produce the PD-L1 molecule (programmed death ligand, programmed death ligand 1 – VM), which binds to T-killers and disrupts their function. As a result of this interaction, cancer manages to form favorable conditions for growth and avoid attacks by the immune system. SSRIs and other similar drugs destroy this mechanism.
It is known that PD-L1 is also a target for immunotherapy, so scientists decided to test the effect of antidepressants in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Experiments have shown that the treatment suppressed the growth of pancreatic and colon cancer. In some mice, the tumor completely disappeared after treatment.
Article by Schneider et al. Attenuation of peripheral serotonin inhibits tumor growth and enhances immune checkpoint blockade therapy in murine tumor models is published in the journal Science Translational Medicine – VM.
"We see that drugs already approved for humans can improve the treatment of incurable pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer," commented the author of the work Pierre Allen Clavien. For example, the five-year survival rate for pancreatic tumors is less than 5-10%.
Now scientists are preparing to conduct clinical trials. If successful, the therapy will be a long-awaited hope for hundreds of thousands of patients.
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