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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
A new drug combination featuring the widely-known impotence drug Viagra has been found to improve the effectiveness of cancer treatment while protecting the heart from harm caused by a popular form of chemotherapy. With nearly half of all cancer survivors dying from other conditions than cancer, most notably cardiovascular disease, this new treatment is not only innovative but necessary.Recently presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Los Angeles, the study was co-authored by Rakesh Kukreja, M.S., Ph.D., researcher in the Developmental Therapeutics program at VCU Massey Cancer Center and scientific director at VCU Pauley Heart Center. The research team used breast cancer cells and cardiomyocytes (heart cells) to study the effects of combining three drugs. The three drugs included cancer-fighting chemotherapy doxorubicin (Doxil, Andriamycin), erectile dysfunction medication Viagra (sildenafil) and immunosuppressant antibiotic rapamycin (sirolimus, Rapamune).For decades, doxorubicin has been a powerful and effective drug for patients with various types of cancer, such as breast, ovarian, colon and prostate. Unfortunately, the drug can cause harmful and irreversible side effects to the heart.Over the past 15 years, researchers have been working to find an optimal therapeutic intervention for protecting the heart against damage caused by doxorubicin."Currently, dexrazoxane is the only FDA-approved drug that can prevent heart damage caused by doxorubicin. But, this drug can decrease patients' bone marrow activity, resulting in fewer red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, and interfere with the anti-cancer efficacy of doxorubicin," explains Kukreja.In earlier studies, Kukreja and his colleagues found that administering Viagra
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