A class of drugs already used to treat a blood disorder could be used to treat stomach and colorectal cancer, according to new research from Australia.
Called JAK inhibitors, the drugs are currently used to treat a cancer-like condition called myelofibrosis. They are also undergoing clinical trials for use as a treatment for leukaemia, lymphoma, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions.
In the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Matthias Ernst, an associate professor at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Parkville, Victoria, and colleagues report how they found JAK inhibitors reduce the growth of inflammation-associated stomach and colorectal cancer.
The team has been investigating links between inflammation and cancers of the digestive tract for a while.
More recently, they have had some success in unravelling the complex molecular signaling that goes on in inflamed tissue, such as that which occurs in a stomach ulcer or inflammatory bowel disease, and how this might drive cancer development.
That work helped them understand the molecules that help cancer cells grow and survive, and to identify the ones that can be targeted with potential anti-cancer drugs.
JAK proteins are involved in growth of stomach and colorectal cancer
In this new study, they investigated molecules known as JAK proteins, which are involved in the development of cancer in the stomach and bowel.
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