The drug for osteoporosis turned out to be a universal remedy for breast cancer
Copper news based on DukeHealth materials: Osteoporosis Drug Stops Growth of Breast Cancer Cells, Even in Resistant Tumors
A drug of the latest generation intended for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis has also proved effective against breast cancer, stopping the growth of tumor cells even with varieties of the disease resistant to standard treatment. The results of the study conducted by specialists from Duke Cancer Institute (USA) were presented at the annual conference of the Society of Endocrinology ENDO 2013 held in San Francisco.
We are talking about the drug bazedoxifene, developed by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which is approved for use in the European Union, but has not yet received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Basedoxifen was approved by the European Commission in April 2009 and is sold in Europe under the trade name Conbriza.
Bazedoxifen, like the standard drug for breast cancer therapy tamoxifen, belongs to the group of selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERM), whose action is based on the ability to connect with hormonal receptors on the surface of tumor cells and block their connection with natural estrogen, thereby suppressing the stimulating effect exerted by the hormone on the tumor. However, as it turned out, basedoxifen goes further – it not only blocks estrogen receptors, but also destroys them.
The effectiveness of basedoxifen against both normal estrogen–dependent breast cancer cells and cells resistant to SERM and aromatase inhibitors – the two main types of standard therapy - has been proven both in laboratory tests and animal model experiments. In addition, basedoxifen successfully suppressed the growth of tumor cells sensitive to tamoxifen, but resistant to lapatinib, a drug commonly used in the treatment of patients with a mutation of the HER2 gene. Previously, it was found that such cells have the ability to reactivate estrogen receptors, which causes their resistance, but basedoxifen, thanks to its properties, was able to overcome this circumstance.
According to the authors, since basedoxifen has already proven its effectiveness and safety in clinical trials for the treatment of osteoporosis, it is enough to simply expand the range of its use to patients with severe, resistant forms of breast cancer.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru19.06.2013