<p>A low-cost drug used for treating colds can prevent bladder cancer from spreading, as well as reduce resistance to anticancer drugs, a new study has found.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Bladder cancer is the seventh most common cancer in males worldwide, researchers said.<br />It can be grouped into two types: non-muscle-invasive cancers, which have a five-year survival rate of 90 per cent, and muscle-invasive cancers, which have poor prognoses.<br /><br />The latter are normally treated with anticancer drugs such as cisplatin, but tend to become chemoresistant and spread to organs such as the lungs and liver, as well as bone.<br /><br />Researchers at the Hokkaido University in Japan, inoculated human bladder cancer cells labelled with luciferase into mice, creating a xenograft bladder cancer model.<br /><br />The primary bladder xenograft gradually grew and, after 45 days, metastatic tumours were detected in the lungs, liver and bone.<br /><br />By using a microarray analysis including more than 20,000 genes for the metastatic tumours, the team discovered a three- to 25-fold increase of the metabolic enzyme aldo-keto reductase 1C1 (AKR1C1) which mediates the resistance of metastatic bladder cancer cells.<br /><br />They also found high levels of AKR1C1 in metastatic tumours removed from 25 cancer patients, proving that the phenomena discovered in the mice also occur in the human body.<br /><br />Along with anticancer drugs, an inflammatory substance produced around the tumour, such as interleukin-1 beta, increased the enzyme levels.<br /><br />The researchers also identified for the first time that AKR1C1 enhances tumour-promoting activities and proved that the enzyme blocks the effectiveness of cisplatin and other anticancer drugs.<br /><br />They discovered that inoculating flufenamic acid, an inhibitory factor for AKR1C1, into cancerous bladder cells suppressed the cell's invasive activities and restored the effectiveness of anticancer drugs.<br /><br />Flufenamic acid is also known as a nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drug used for treating common colds.<br /><br />The team's discovery is expected to spur clinical tests aimed at improving prognoses for bladder cancer patients. In the latest cancer treatments, expensive molecular-targeted drugs are used, putting a large strain on both the medical economy and the state coffers.<br /><br />"This latest research could pave the way for medical institutions to use flufenamic acid - a much cheaper cold drug - which has unexpectedly been proven to be effective at fighting cancers," said Shinya Tanaka from the Hokkaido. <br /></p>
<p>A low-cost drug used for treating colds can prevent bladder cancer from spreading, as well as reduce resistance to anticancer drugs, a new study has found.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Bladder cancer is the seventh most common cancer in males worldwide, researchers said.<br />It can be grouped into two types: non-muscle-invasive cancers, which have a five-year survival rate of 90 per cent, and muscle-invasive cancers, which have poor prognoses.<br /><br />The latter are normally treated with anticancer drugs such as cisplatin, but tend to become chemoresistant and spread to organs such as the lungs and liver, as well as bone.<br /><br />Researchers at the Hokkaido University in Japan, inoculated human bladder cancer cells labelled with luciferase into mice, creating a xenograft bladder cancer model.<br /><br />The primary bladder xenograft gradually grew and, after 45 days, metastatic tumours were detected in the lungs, liver and bone.<br /><br />By using a microarray analysis including more than 20,000 genes for the metastatic tumours, the team discovered a three- to 25-fold increase of the metabolic enzyme aldo-keto reductase 1C1 (AKR1C1) which mediates the resistance of metastatic bladder cancer cells.<br /><br />They also found high levels of AKR1C1 in metastatic tumours removed from 25 cancer patients, proving that the phenomena discovered in the mice also occur in the human body.<br /><br />Along with anticancer drugs, an inflammatory substance produced around the tumour, such as interleukin-1 beta, increased the enzyme levels.<br /><br />The researchers also identified for the first time that AKR1C1 enhances tumour-promoting activities and proved that the enzyme blocks the effectiveness of cisplatin and other anticancer drugs.<br /><br />They discovered that inoculating flufenamic acid, an inhibitory factor for AKR1C1, into cancerous bladder cells suppressed the cell's invasive activities and restored the effectiveness of anticancer drugs.<br /><br />Flufenamic acid is also known as a nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drug used for treating common colds.<br /><br />The team's discovery is expected to spur clinical tests aimed at improving prognoses for bladder cancer patients. In the latest cancer treatments, expensive molecular-targeted drugs are used, putting a large strain on both the medical economy and the state coffers.<br /><br />"This latest research could pave the way for medical institutions to use flufenamic acid - a much cheaper cold drug - which has unexpectedly been proven to be effective at fighting cancers," said Shinya Tanaka from the Hokkaido. <br /></p>