Study: Arthritis Drug May Suppress Pancreatic, Other Cancers

The arthritis drug Celebrex suppresses the development of pancreatic cancer by stopping the action of a key protein, according to University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center researchers.

Their findings were reported April 8 in the Proceedings for the 2003 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Celebrex (celecoxib) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) known as a cox-2 inhibitor.

The researchers discovered the mechanism by which Celebrex inhibits cancer cell growth. Specifically, the drug stops a key transcription factor known as Sp1 from turning on multiple genes in cancer cells known to be associated with cancer growth.

Although the study was restricted to pancreatic cancer, researcher Dr. Keping Xie said the results likely describe how Celebrex interferes with the development of a number of common cancers such as colon, prostate, gastric and breast.

Xie said it may be possible to tailor Celebrex to be even more powerful.

Other sources: American Association for Cancer Research