Women
diagnosed with ovarian cancer could survive longer when a statin is added to
the treatment regimen, in addition to the cancer-specific treatment says the
results of a new research study led by Keele University and published recently in Scientific Reports.
This is in
contrast to earlier research studies, in which statins in laboratory studies
were effective against ovarian cancer but did not show the same efficacy when
tested in real human participants.
Ovarian
cancer accounts for only 3 percent of all cancers in women, but it causes more
deaths in women than any other reproductive system cancer because it is often
diagnosed at a very late stage.
The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that in 2014, 21,161 women in
the U.S. found out that they had ovarian cancer and 14,195 died of the disease.
Dr Alan
Richardson, a reader in
pharmacology in the School of Pharmacy, who led the research at Keele and co-authored the paper, explained:
“We believe
we have found the answer to the paradox: for statins to be effective as a
cancer therapy, the right statin needs to be used, it needs to be delivered at
the right dose and interval, and diet needs to be controlled to reduce sources
of geranylgeraniol, which can limit the statin’s effect on cancer cells.”
The
researchers at Keele University have identified a particular statin called
pitavastatin, which has a long metabolic half-life, necessary for continuous
inhibition of tumor growth. It was also seen that diet affects the action of
pitavastatin on tumor cells.
The apoptosis
of ovarian cancer cells was inhibited in the presence of dietary geranylgeraniol.
Geranylgeraniol is present in various foods like sunflower seeds and some
varieties of rice.
Statins have
shown to be effective in other cancers also. In fact, Pitavastatin was effective
in killing cancer cells, even after they have developed drug resistance. This
raises the possibility that statins may be useful to treat patients who have
developed resistance to chemotherapy.
The
inhibitory effect of dietary geranylgeraniol on actions of pitavastatin may
explain the discrepancies observed in efficacy of the drug between pre-clincal
lab studies and human studies.
The next
stage of research is to conduct full clinical trials in humans. Dr Richardson
is already planning clinical trials at Keele University. He commented “The key
message of our work is that clinical trials of pitavastatin can now be properly
designed, and we are in the very early stages of developing trials with our
colleagues at Keele University and Birmingham University. It is also noteworthy
that pitavastatin is available in a generic form, potentially making this a
relatively inexpensive treatment.”
The research
also opens new possibilities for use of statins to prevent ovarian cancer. The
use of statins in reducing morbidity and mortality in CVDs is well documented.
Further targeted clinical trials are needed before it can be clinically prescribed
as anticancer.
The Keele
University press release can be accessed here.
Full text of
the article in Scientific Reports can be accessed here.
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