Viagra may fix prostate cancer too, finds study

According to the findings of the trial conducted by the researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and VCU Massey Cancer Center, the combination of the two drugs, Viagra and doxorubicin, reduced the size of prostate tumors and also lessened the damage to the heart.

Doxorubicin – The chemotherapy drug
Doxorubicin, a potent anti-cancer drug has been long used to treat a number of human cancers, including that of the prostate.

But while its chemotherapeutic agents fight cancer cells effectively, its prolonged use is known to cause irreversible heart damage, which surfaces years after the withdrawal of treatment, researchers say.

The study conducted on genetically engineered lab mice revealed that a combination of Viagra, generically known as sildenafil, and doxorubicin significantly reduced the size of tumors while alleviating heart damage at the same time.

How does the combo therapy work?
The drugs when used in concoction significantly enhance the generation of reactive oxygen species that causes death of prostate cancer cells.

The mice preconditioned with prostate cancer were treated with doses of sildenafil, which also conferred heart benefits by increasing the therapeutic levels of nitric oxide in the heart.

"We believe sildenafil could be an excellent candidate for incorporation into cancer treatment protocols with the potential of enhancing the anti-tumor efficacy, while protecting the heart against both short-term and long-term damage from doxorubicin," study’s principal investigator, Dr Rakesh C. Kukreja, said.

The team now plans to move to the next phase – a human trial.

"My team and I are hoping to move the research forward to a clinical trial and plans are under way to do so," Kukreja said. "The clinical trial would evaluate the effectiveness of the drug combination in cancer patients."

The findings are published in the Sept. 27 edition of the journal 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.'