Alzheimer's Disease Potentially treatable with two FDA-sanctioned cancer medications, reveals recent study
In a groundbreaking discovery, two FDA-approved drugs, Letrozole and Irinotecan, have shown promising results in treating Alzheimer's disease. These drugs, initially developed to combat cancer, are currently under consideration for clinical trials for Alzheimer's.
If successful, these drugs could change the landscape of Alzheimer's treatment, as there is currently a significant lack of effective treatments for the disease. The number of people affected by Alzheimer's disease is over 55 million worldwide, and this figure is expected to rise.
Letrozole, a drug used to treat breast cancer, targets neurons by blocking aromatase, promoting estrogen signaling and synaptic plasticity. This helps preserve neurons and supports memory functions. On the other hand, Irinotecan, used for colon and lung cancer, acts primarily on glial cells, reducing neuroinflammation, mitigating oxidative stress, and regulating cholesterol transport.
When used in combination, these drugs have shown remarkable results in Alzheimer's mouse models. They have reversed Alzheimer's-related changes in gene expression in neurons and glial cells, led to preservation of hippocampal neurons, reduced amyloid-beta plaques, and decreased tau pathology (phosphorylated tau deposition). These are key hallmarks of Alzheimer's.
The combined therapy achieved greater benefits than either drug alone. It reduced microglial inflammation and astrocyte activation, preserved and increased hippocampal volume and neuron populations, decreased phosphorylated tau (p-tau) aggregation/clumping in the brain, and rewired disease-specific gene networks across neurons and glia. It also restored memory and learning capacities in treated Alzheimer’s mouse models.
This innovative repurposing approach was supported by computational drug screening and analysis of millions of medical records, showing that patients on these drugs had a lower likelihood of developing Alzheimer's, providing additional real-world evidence for their potential efficacy.
In summary, the dual cancer drug combination of Letrozole and Irinotecan works synergistically by targeting both neuronal preservation and glial inflammation, effectively reducing tau protein clumps and improving cognitive deficits associated with Alzheimer's disease in preclinical models.
Further research and clinical trials will be essential to determine the potential of Letrozole and Irinotecan for Alzheimer's treatment. This discovery offers a new therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's, a condition that has long been difficult to address. The research has been published in the journal Cell.
[1] Reference 1 [2] Reference 2 [3] Reference 3 [4] Reference 4
- This discovery of using Letrozole and Irinotecan, originally developed for medical-conditions like cancer, could revolutionize health-and-wellness for Alzheimer's patients, as it targets neurological-disorders associated with the disease.
- These FDA-approved drugs, Letrozole and Irinotecan, demonstrated remarkable improvements in Alzheimer's-related symptoms in preclinical models, potentially offering new therapies-and-treatments for a condition that has been challenging to address.
- In addition to the success shown in preclinical trials, analysis of millions of medical records supports the potential efficacy of Letrozole and Irinotecan in reducing the risk of Alzheimer's, expanding our understanding of the disease and possible treatments for other medical-conditions.
