Erectile Dysfunction Drugs could Assist Treat Oesophageal Cancer, Study Finds

Erectile dysfunction drugs might assist treat oesophageal cancer, study finds

22 June 2022

An active ingredient in impotence medication may help treat oesophageal cancer, a research study has actually found.

Southampton scientists found the PDE5 inhibitors in the medication helped permeate the barrier of cells around tumours, enabling chemotherapy drugs to reach cancer cells.

One in 10 patients currently makes it through the disease, which is discovered throughout the gullet, for 10 years or more.

The study was moneyed by Cancer Research UK. The next phase is a clinical trial.

Prof Tim Underwood, lead author of the study, stated the discovery might enhance these survival rates.

He stated a cell called the cancer-associated fibroblast, responsible for wound healing, might be targeted with the inhibitors.

“It’s been used throughout the world in countless doses,” he explained. “It’s safe, and we used it to cancer.”

He added it was to the researchers “wonder and surprise and delight” that the drug had an effect.

“We need to put this into a scientific trial where we try the drug type together with chemotherapy to see if it makes the chemotherapy more reliable,” he said.

“The initial work suggests it must do, and if it does and if it’s safe, and it enhances outcomes of chemotherapy, then it might be truly substantial for the patients I take care of.”

The study was brought out using tumours from 8 cancer clients, with further tests done on mice.

Chemotherapy only assists 20% of oesophageal cancer clients in a substantial method, he stated.

“If this drug combination even improves it by a percentage, we’re really going to help a a great deal of individuals every year to respond better and live longer.”

Researchers at Southampton University Hospitals state that the typical results of erectile dysfunction condition drugs require additional stimulation, so would not affect cancer clients in the same way.

Prof Underwood said the primary adverse effects would be “a little headache, a little bit of flushing”.

Terry Daly, from Aldershot, Hampshire, is one of the 9,500 people detected with cancer in the UK every year.

It typically goes unnoticed in the early stages, with Mr Daly discovering it was difficult to swallow his food and he ended up regurgitating it.

He is soon to undergo another round of chemotherapy, and said if he had the option to take the brand-new treatment he would have “taken it with both hands”.

“The research study that is being done is absolutely great,” he said.

“It is simply unbelievable that there are individuals out there happy to spend their lives just looking for a cure, so that people can get on with their everyday lives and not have to go through all this things.

“You can’t thank these people enough for what they’re doing.”

The five-year research study has been moneyed by Cancer Research UK and the Medical Research Council.

A scientific trial is expected within the next 18 months and if effective, it is hoped new treatments based upon this research study could be used within 10 years.

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Related internet links

Cancer Research UK

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Institute of Developmental Sciences – University of Southampton

What is oesophageal cancer? – NHS

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