Scientists have found that mebendazole, a drug typically used to treat parasitic worms, when combined with the anticancer agent gefitinib, reduces the survival of therapy-resistant lung cancer cells. The study results were published in the scientific journal PLOS One, according to infohub.kz.
In the experiment, researchers took tumor cells that had stopped responding to the primary treatment—a drug that blocks cancer growth. These "resistant" cells were divided and treated differently: with the anticancer agent, with deworming tablets, and with a combination of both.
After three days, the scientists checked cell viability to determine which method was most effective at destroying the cancer.
The combined approach worked. Gefitinib alone had almost no effect on the resistant cancer cells—their viability was 92.7% of the control level. However, when the two drugs were combined, this figure dropped to 37.7%.
Next, the scientists tested the drugs' effects on animals. They transplanted cancer cells into 80 female mice, and after tumors formed, divided the animals into groups receiving different treatments. Throughout the experiment, the researchers measured tumor sizes and monitored treatment tolerability.
Tumor growth slowed. Over the 40-day experiment, tumors in untreated mice grew almost 11-fold. In animals receiving both drugs, cancer growth slowed significantly—the tumor increased only 4.6-fold.
The authors emphasize that the disease progressed much more slowly. Moreover, the treatment did not cause severe side effects in the mice.
However, the scientists caution that these are only laboratory experiments. Many more tests are needed before the method can be used in humans.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that scientists discovered the reason why children develop cancer.