Anti-psychotic drug thioridazine also kills cancer

By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, May 24, 2012 The Raw Story

Scientists: Anti-psychotic drug also kills cancer

It seems that scientists have determined that a heavy duty anti-psychotic drug thioridazine used for schizophrenia is also capable of eradicating certain cancerous stem cells.

However, more research is needed because of the side effects.

Perhaps this will lead to a new drug or gene therapy ?

A drug with a long list of heavy side effects, commonly used to treat sufferers of schizophrenia, also possesses some startlingly potent anti-cancer properties, according to research published Thursday in the medical journal Cell

The drug, thioridazine is usually dispensed as a last resort for schizophrenics whose symptoms did not respond to other treatments. Scientists said that after analyzing thousands of different drugs for possible anti-cancer effects, they discovered that thioridazine can be used to selectively target and eradicate cancerous stem cells present in leukemia, along with breast, blood, brain, prostate, ovarian, lung and gastrointestinal cancers, all without the worst side effects of today’s most frequently used cancer therapies.

“The unusual aspect of our finding is the way this human-ready drug actually kills cancer stem cells – by changing them into cells that are non-cancerous,” Mick Bhatia, the study’s principal researcher and scientific director of McMaster’s Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute in Canada, said in a media advisory.

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Scientists: Anti-psychotic drug also kills cancer

Wow this is fantastic
The drug is very dangerous. Can they figure out what part of the drug actually kills
the cancer without having to give a psychotropic drug to people who don't have
schizophrenia ?

Nice find

Tne of the most potent compounds was thioridazine, an antipsychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia. The drug also blocked the growth of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) stem cells taken from patients. And it knocked down the number of AML stem cells in mice injected with these cells that developed leukemia.

Inject it to mice, "Oh noooees we haz cillamutants
in da houze, call "The BugBusters"

a reply to: xuenchen

The most common cause of death for cancer patients is metastasis and if this drug is able to prevent or stop metastasis, then that is amazing news, as it is the key to prolonging the lifespan of those patients. However, like it was mentioned above, Thioridazine has really strong side effects, including a long term impact on cognitive function. But if I was a cancer patient, I would definitely choose to live with the side effects and to spend more time alive with my family.

The great news about Thioridazine is that it does not seem to affect normal cells, and only targets cancerous ones.

S&F OP!