Researcher Gabri van der Pluijm of the LUMC discovered the possible cross-link in a publication in the scientific journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, the hospital writes. a message. “A study of the antipsychotic Penfluridol, prescribed to patients with schizophrenia, showed that patients were less likely to develop cancer.”
And that caught his attention, because he is looking for a more effective way to treat bladder cancer: “In bladder cancer, the tumor returns after removal in eighty percent of cases.”
‘Saw a clear anti-cancer effect’
“It was noticeable that significantly less bladder cancer occurred in patients with chronic schizophrenia,” Van der Pluijm told RTL Nieuws. “We thought: this probably has to do with the use of the antipsychotic that these patients often use.”
And that is all the more striking because patients with schizophrenia usually have an unhealthy lifestyle, he knows. They often smoke a lot because of the stress. “Despite this, you saw that they had less often lung cancer, prostate cancer and especially bladder cancer.”
In his laboratory he tested the drug against bladder cancer cells. He conducted three types of research and he calls the results promising. “In all three cases you saw a clear anti-cancer effect. Tumors became significantly smaller and there were also fewer metastases. An existing and relatively cheap drug against schizophrenia could therefore possibly be used to treat bladder cancer.”
According to the LUMC, around 7,000 people are diagnosed with bladder cancer for the first time every year. About a quarter of these have an aggressive variant with a survival rate of ten percent for the five years following diagnosis. The remainder of the patients have a survival rate of ninety percent.
In the clinical study, Van der Pluijm will give patients a bladder rinse with the antipsychotic. First, it is investigated whether patients experience side effects from the medicine. If this is successful, the effect on the tumor will be investigated.
‘Are there risks involved’
Harald Schmidt, professor of Pharmacology (or Pharmacology) at Maastricht University, says when asked that using an already existing medicine for a second condition ‘can have advantages, but there are also risks’. An advantage is that it is already available: “The process of developing a new drug takes a lot of time and is very expensive. The introduction of a new drug costs an average of 2.8 billion dollars. So if you can use a drug that has already been developed and has therefore been found to be safe, this results in enormous savings in time and money.”
This is immediately followed by this comment: “This route is cheaper and faster, but it often fails. The evidence is generally shaky, stories of successful results are often prematurely claimed.”
Yet it sometimes produces success, Schmidt knows. He points to the erection drug Viagra, which was originally developed to treat angina pectoris (heart cramps). And a diabetes drug also appeared to work for people who want to lose weight.
2023-12-11 19:23:10
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