Pancreatic Cancer :: Asthma medicine cromolyn halts pancreatic cancer cell growth

A common asthma drug reduced pancreatic cancer cell growth in laboratory experiments and animal tests, a new study reports.

A protein called S100P is found in excess amounts in some cancers and is important for pancreatic cancer cell growth and survival. This protein also activates a cell surface protein receptor called RAGE that plays a role in Alzheimer disease, diabetes, and cancer.

A drug called cromolyn, an allergy and asthma treatment, has been shown to bind to proteins similar to S100P. To test cromolyn?s effects on S100P in pancreatic cancer cells, Thiruvengadam Arumugam, Ph.D., Vijaya Ramachandran, Ph.D., and Craig D. Logsdon, Ph.D., of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, conducted experiments with the drug in tissue cultures and in mice with implanted pancreatic cancer.

They found that cromolyn bound to S100P, halted the activation of RAGE, and slowed cancer cell growth and survival in cell lines. In mice, the drug slowed pancreatic tumor growth and improved the effectiveness of gemcitabine, a chemotherapy drug used to treat pancreatic cancer.

“Together, these data support the further investigation of cromolyn as a possible treatment for pancreatic cancer,” the authors write.


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