Could anticancer drugs be used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension Researchers hope to access funding for a new study that will investigate whether a therapy to treat cancer could be repurposed for use in PAH. Here, we tell you more about what the team from University College London are trying to find out.
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ulmonary hypertension (PH) is caused by the small lung arteries becoming thicker, making it harder for blood to pass through these narrow channels. A specific type of pulmonary hypertension in which the disease process occurs in the pulmonary arteries is pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The condition causes the heart to struggle to pump blood through the lungs and causes high blood pressure in the lung arteries. Currently, treatments for PH are based on drugs that relax the artery muscles to make it easier for blood to pass through. However, this doesn't address the thickening of the blood vessels – so up until now, conventional therapies have had limited impact on prolonging survival.
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The potential to repurpose well-known medication
Blood vessel dilators, known as ‘vasodilators’ are medications that open (dilate) blood vessels. There are several new treatments being developed and tested in combination with vasodilators to improve the disease process. Some of these drugs are approved and being used to treat other diseases such as cancer. However, anticancer drugs cannot differentiate healthy cells from diseased cells, which leads to severe side effects for the patient. This has therefore limited their use and the problem remains a challenge for doctors and researchers. A strategy is needed to tailor the delivery of a drug to exactly where the disease is in the lung blood vessels, to avoid the targeting of healthy cells that causes these side
