Antifungal Drug Delays Need For Chemo In Advanced Prostate Cancer

[Editor's Note:  although article is for prostate cancer, I can see a need for research using it for brain tumors!]

Antifungal Drug Delays Need For Chemo In Advanced Prostate Cancer

The oral antifungal drug itraconazole, most commonly used to treat nail fungus, may keep prostate cancer from worsening and delay the need for chemotherapy in men with advanced disease. Details of the finding, from a clinical trial led by Johns Hopkins experts, are scheduled for presentation on Saturday, June 4 at the 2011 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting (abstract #4532).

Identified as a potential anticancer drug after Hopkins scientists scoured a database of more than 3,000 FDA-approved drugs, itraconazole appears to block tumor blood vessel growth -- the only drug in its class to do so -- much like the anticancer drug bevacizumab (Avastin). The antifungal also disrupts a key cancer-initiating biological pathway called Hedgehog. Laboratory testing by Johns Hopkins scientist Jun Liu, Ph.D., has shown that human prostate tumors implanted in mice shrink when treated with itraconazole.

Source: Medical News Today [6/2/11]