Allergy medicine makes Gemzar work much better (in mice)

[Lani]

Allergy Drug Shows Promise Against Pancreatic Cancer in Mice



NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Dec 29 - Treatment with the allergy drug cromolyn inhibit the growth of pancreatic cancer and enhances the efficacy of gemcitabine, the agent currently used to treat the malignancy, findings from an animal study show.

Previous reports have shown that 90% of pancreatic tumors express a growth- and invasion-promoting protein called S100P. Because cromolyn has been shown to bind to other members of the S100 family, it could potentially bind to S100P as well and affect its pro-oncologic activity.

To investigate, Dr. Craig D. Logsdon and colleagues, from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, tested the effects of cromolyn in pancreatic cell cultures and in murine models of the malignancy. The new findings appear in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute for December 20.

The authors found that cromolyn did, in fact, bind S100P and prevented its ability to activate the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE), a key pathologic process in pancreatic cancer.

Cromolyn inhibited the growth and metastasis of S100P-expressing tumors, but, as anticipated, had no effect on the proliferation of S100P-null tumors. As noted, the anti-tumor efficacy of gemcitabine was significantly increased in the presence of cromolyn.

"Cromolyn seems to reduce survival mechanisms in pancreatic cancer cells enough that when gemcitabine is added, the chemotherapy is more effective. This is good, because chemotherapy normally has very little effect in patients," Dr. Logsdon said in a statement.

Clinical studies of cromolyn plus gemcitabine in patients with pancreatic cancer are warranted, the authors conclude. Moreover, it might be worth investigating adjuvant cromolyn therapy as a treatment for other malignancies, they add.

J Natl Cancer Inst 2006;98:1806-1818.