Scientists at Harvard, Massachusetts University of Technology and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified 49 existing drugs with potential to kill tumor cells. The new team, spread across three institutions, screened 4,518 drugs approved used to treat conditions other than cancers, including some used to treat dogs. And scientists are increasingly exploring these new targets, including by simply seeing what existing drugs can do to tumors. Four drugs were particularly promising, including an anti-inflammatory used to treat arthritis in dogs, a drug initially made to treat diabetes, and Antabuse, a drug used to treat alcohol dependence. Jumping that line by using existing drugs to make cancer treatments could save lives, he says.

Source: Daily Mail January 20, 2020 16:41 UTC