A team of scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have suggested a pill designed to treat sleeping disorders could help fight cancer.
A team led by Carla Grandori of the Hutchinson Center’s Human Biology Division has been focusing on genes that have the potential to cause cancer, in particular a gene called 'Myc', connected to the spread of brain, breast, lung, ovary and liver cancer, which the study says has an “Achilles heel”.
“Their rapid growth and division damages their DNA, and they rely on other genes to repair that damage. Disabling those genes can cripple the cancer’s ability to grow,” said Grandori, in a statement.
During their research, Grandori and colleagues found more than 100 genes which, when blocked, caused the death of Myc-driven cancer cells, including 'CSNK 1 epsilon'.
And a compound originally developed to modulate sleep cycles, could inhibit the enzyme this gene produces, say findings published in the May 21 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“It had been sitting on a shelf for years, like the thousands of other ‘orphan’ drugs that are abandoned when they prove ineffective for their intended use,” Grandori said.
With a simple, five-minute web search, she purchased the compound online and designed an experiment to test its potential.
Grandor implanted laboratory mice with Myc-driven neuroblastomas (a deadly cancer of the nervous system that often strikes children) and treated half of them with the new compound.
The untreated mice quickly died of their tumors, but the treated mice thrived and their neuroblastomas shrank away.
“It is possible that the next great breakthrough in cancer therapy is already out there, sitting on a shelf, hiding in plain view,” said Grandori.