Erectile Dysfunction Drugs could help Treat Oesophageal Cancer, Study Finds

Erectile dysfunction drugs might help deal with oesophageal cancer, research study finds

22 June 2022

An active ingredient in impotence medication might assist treat oesophageal cancer, a study has actually found.

Southampton researchers discovered the PDE5 inhibitors in the medication assisted penetrate the barrier of cells around tumours, making it possible for chemotherapy drugs to reach cancer cells.

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

The research study was funded by Cancer Research UK. The next phase is a scientific trial.

Prof Tim Underwood, lead author of the research study, said the discovery could improve these survival rates.

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

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

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

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

“The initial work recommends it needs to do, and if it does and if it’s safe, and it enhances outcomes of chemotherapy, then it might be really significant for the clients I look after.”

The study was brought out using tumours from eight cancer patients, with additional tests done on mice.

Chemotherapy just helps 20% of oesophageal cancer in a significant way, he stated.

“If this drug combination even improves it by a percentage, we’re actually going to assist a a great deal of people every year to react much better and live longer.”

Researchers at Southampton University Hospitals state that the usual results of erectile dysfunction disorder drugs require additional stimulation, so would not affect cancer clients in the exact same method.

Prof Underwood stated the main side results would be “a little bit of headache, a bit of flushing”.

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

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

He is shortly to undergo another round of chemotherapy, and stated 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 wonderful,” he stated.

“It is simply incredible that there are people out there willing to invest their lives simply trying to discover a treatment, so that people can get on with their everyday lives and not have to go through all this stuff.

“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 clinical trial is expected within the next 18 months and if effective, it is hoped new treatments based on this research study could be used within ten years.

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Related web links

Cancer Research UK

University Hospital Southampton

Institute of Developmental Sciences – University of Southampton

What is oesophageal cancer? – NHS

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