Dr. Farhat Latif Khanim, Ph.D., and Professor Chris Bunce, BSc, Ph.D., along with Professor Mark Drayson MBChB Ph.D. FRCPathÂ
from the University of Birmingham speak about Triple-drug combo could prove key weapon in fight against cancer.
Â
This is only been researched in MDS.
Â
Link to Article:
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2021/10/triple-drug-combo-in-fight-against-cancer.aspx
Â
MDS affects around 7,000 people in the UK, and many patients die as a result of the disease progressing to acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a more severe blood cancer. AML has a terrible prognosis in general, but it’s even worse when it’s caused by MDS.
Â
AML kills patients swiftly if left untreated because it stops the formation of normal blood cells. AML is most common in the elderly, many of whom, due to their age and weakness, are unable to undergo the ‘conventional’ treatment of aggressive chemotherapy.
Â
Researchers at the University of Birmingham had previously established that combining bezafibrate (BEZ – cholesterol-lowering) with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA – contraceptive steroid) alleviated a variety of blood malignancies, including AML, CLL, and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Â
Clinical trials now show that adding valproic acid to a low-dosage combination of the other two medications increases AML cell death, providing the low-dose triple-drug combo (VBaP) a cancer-fighting effect comparable to a high dose of BEZ and MPA (BaP).
Â
The findings of University of Birmingham researchers were published in the British Journal of Cancer.
Â
Low-doses of BaP given to patients who couldn’t receive chemotherapy had no hazardous side effects and helped patients enhance their blood cell production, according to previous clinical trials.
Â
Due to the weak character of the patients caused by their age, poor kidney function, illness, and, in certain cases, prior chemotherapy treatments, high dosages of the dual combo were not well tolerated.