WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Scientists at Tel Aviv University suggested that the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil, sold as Viagra, may help stop cancer from spreading to other parts of the body.
The study, involving researchers from the U.S. National Cancer Institute, Clalit Health Services, and Rabin Medical Center in Israel, found that the drug appears to reduce cancer cells' ability to use cholesterol, which they need to spread to other organs.
The findings were based on experiments in mice, cancer cells taken from human patients, and 20 years of medical records from about 5 million members of Clalit Health Services. The researchers found that cancer patients who used sildenafil had better survival rates, especially those who also took statins, cholesterol-lowering medicines.
The team discovered that sildenafil reduces the amount of cholesterol available to cancer cells. Cholesterol is an important part of cell membranes and becomes especially important when cancer cells break away from the original tumor and spread to other organs. By limiting cholesterol, the drug makes it harder for cancer to spread.
Sildenafil works by blocking an enzyme called PDE5. This increases levels of a molecule called cGMP, which is known for improving blood flow and treating erectile dysfunction. The researchers found that cGMP also binds to a protein that carries cholesterol inside cells, leaving less cholesterol available for cancer cells.
'We have uncovered a new biological pathway that links a well-known signaling molecule to cholesterol regulation within cells, and shown how this pathway can be harnessed to interfere with the ability of cancer cells to form metastases,' said Ayelet Erez, practicing physician and a senior researcher and dean of Weizmann's Miriam and Aaron Gutwirth Medical School.
'Beyond their therapeutic promise, our findings highlight that cancer biology is shaped not only by mutations in tumor cells but also by the patient's metabolic state and by medications they are already taking for other conditions.'
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