To overcome these issues, researchers have focused on an alternative strategy, drug repurposing, (1) that incorporates repurposing drugs approved for clinical indications other than cancer that have shown promising anti-cancer activities. Contrary to the de novo drug development, drug repurposing has numerous advantages that include higher efficiency, decreased toxicity, overcoming of drug resistance, lower time and financial expenditure, and reduced risk of failure. This approach is effective primarily when the FDA-approved agent targets similar pathways found in cancer.
Repurposed anti-cancer drugs have also shown promising results. In a recent study, (2) a repurposed leukemia drug, imatinib, could prevent dormant breast cancer cells that have spread to the lungs from waking up. These cancer cells can lie dormant for years or even decades. Researchers found that platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-C protein levels increased as lung tissue became aged or damaged, waking up the sleeping cancer cells and causing a recurrence. Inhibiting this protein using imatinib reversed the tumor activity in mice with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer, which is the most common type of breast cancer in women.
At N1X10, detailed research of all therapeutic options, including the use of repurposed drugs is discussed with our clients as an option they may consider in the treatment of their individual malignancy.