The combinational therapy with pain-reliever Celebrex and anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor may stop the progression of prostate cancer, according to the results of animal study, presented at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in San Diego.

Prostate cancer is a form of cancer, where the tumor develops in the male prostate, which is a gland in the male reproductive system. Prostate cancer is a very serious medical problem – after lung cancer it is the most common type of cancer in the USA.

At early stage prostate cancer requires certain male hormones, for example, testosterone in order to grow. During this stage doctors usually use certain anti-hormonal medications, which interfere with male hormones and thus suppress the growth of tumors. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of such therapy decreases with time, and doctors have to use much more aggressive therapies to stop cancer. That is why it is of crucial importance to stop the progression of prostate cancer, when it is still on early stage of development.

A group of scientists decided to check the influence of Celebrex, which belongs to the class of COX-2 inhibitors and is commonly used as a pain-killer these days, on prostate tumors. The study was conducted on laboratory mice that were cultured with prostate cancer tumors. Those mice were treated with either Celebrex or Lipitor individually, or with both medications simultaneously.

The results, obtained during the study, were very promising. All three approaches appeared to be effective in suppressing the growth of prostate tumors. At the same time, scientists underlined the fact that the rate of tumors inhibition was higher in those animals that were treated with Celebrex in combination with Lipitor, in comparison with the animals treated with any of the drug individually.

Dr. K. Scott Coffield, a professor of surgery at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and a urologist-oncologist at Scott & White said that the results of the study presented at the scientific meeting were “interesting” and “wonderful”. However, the expert also noted that it is still early to talk about the obvious benefits Celebrex and Lipitor may bring to all male patients, suffering from prostate cancer.

The results of the mentioned study gave scientists first obvious evidences that Celebrex in combination with Lipitor may be of help in fighting prostate cancer. However, it is still unknown how exactly those medications influence cancer and how they suppress tumors further development. Additional clinical studies are necessary to dot all “i’s” and cross all “t’s”.

Undoubtedly, the obtained results should not be treated as a recommendation to prescribe Celebrex and Lipitor as the new therapy against prostate cancer. However, on the other side, this may be a direction for scientists, showing where to look for more effective and, at the same time, safe medicinal options to suppress prostate cancer and prolong its early stage as long as possible.

Nick

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External resources
http://www.celebrex.com
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=88648
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_cancer
http://www.lipitor.com

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