Malaria drug shows promise in cancer treatment

London: A readily and cheaply available malaria drug may help treat a wide range of cancers, including lung, bowel, brain, and head and neck cancer, new research has found.

Inspired by the promising results in mice, the researchers have now started testing the effects of the drug on humans.

The study looked at the effect of the drug, called atovaquone, on tumours with low oxygen levels in mice to see if it could be repurposed to treat cancer. This medicine is no longer patented and is readily and cheaply available from generic medicines manufacturers.

This research showed that the anti-malaria drug slows down the rate at which cancer cells use oxygen by targeting the mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell that make energy, a process that uses oxygen. By slowing down the use of oxygen, this drug reverses the low-oxygen levels in nearly all of the tumours. The fully-oxygenated tumours are more easily destroyed by radiotherapy.

In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, the drug was shown to be effective in a wide range of cancers, including lung, bowel, brain, and head and neck cancer.

IANS