A DRUG widely used to combat epilepsy could also play a part in the battle against cancer, scientists have discovered.
Researchers at the University of York have found the drug has the potential to reduce the growth and spread of breast cancer.
They studied phenytoin, a drug which inhibits epilepsy by targeting “sodium channels” – which are also present in breast cancer cells where they are thought to help the spread of tumours.
And they found that “repurposing” anti-epileptic drugs such as phenytoin, that effectively block the sodium channels, could provide a novel therapy for cancer.
Dr Will Brackenbury, who led the research, said: “This is the first study to show that phenytoin reduces both the growth and spread of breast cancer tumour cells.”
“This indicates that re-purposing antiepileptic drugs is worthy of further study as a potentially novel anti-cancer therapy.”
The research was published in the journal Molecular Cancer.
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