Ribavirin: the antiviral drug becomes promising cancer-fighter
A commonly used antiviral drug that’s already used to fight hepatitis C and HIV could also be used to treat 30% of cancer types, according to a new study conducted on patients in Canada.
Doctors in Montreal tested the antiviral drug Ribavirin on 11 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), who had undergone several other treatments that had previously failed. Nine of the patients saw their conditions improve within a matter of months, with one achieving complete remission and two achieving partial remission, all with few side effects. The results are published online in the journal, Blood.
The researchers, led by Dr. Katherine Borden, at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Université de Montréal, say that ribavirin works by suppressing activity of the eIF4E gene, which becomes overactive in 30 per cent of cancer types and overproduces a protein that helps turn cells cancerous.
More about this in the video below by CTV:
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Posted: May 21st, 2009 under Health, Research.
Tags: Acute Myeloid Leukemia, AML, Cancer, Katherine Borden, Ribavirin
Comments
Comment from KattyBlackyard
Time June 14, 2009 at 9:25 PM
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Comment from Kio
Time July 17, 2009 at 7:19 AM
at the risk of sounding silly, but here it goes:
WOOOHOOOO!!!! GREAT NEWS 
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Time May 21, 2009 at 3:29 AM
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