Brain Tumor Breakthrough with Crohn's disease drug

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 01 Aug 2005 - 5:00 PDT

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UAB researchers say a drug already on the market for the treatment of Crohn's disease also may help treat primary brain tumors.

The findings, reported in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggest that sulfasalazine, a drug on the market for nearly 40 years, can reduce tumor size by interfering with the cancer cell's ability to make the brain chemical glutathione.

Without glutathione, tumor cells are more susceptible to attack by the body's natural defenses.

"Clinical trials could begin very quickly, since a clinically approved drug that can be delivered orally is already available," said Harald [cq] Sontheimer, Ph.D. professor of neurobiology and director of the UAB Civitan International Research Center.

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