Erectile dysfunction drug saves cancer patient’s life
To carry out the study, the scientists took tumor cell samples from 15 tissue biopsies of eight patients, creating tumors in the lab.
They tried a combination of PDE5 inhibitors and standard chemotherapy on tumors.
The scientists also tested the method on mice with esophageal tumor implants and found that none of the mice experienced unwanted side effects.
PDE5 inhibitors will shrink tumor size compared to chemotherapy alone.
Drugs containing PDE5 inhibitors have been shown to be safe, well tolerated, used in patients worldwide.
The researchers suggest that the use of the drug for people with esophageal cancer will not cause an uncontrolled erection.
A team of experts from the University of Southampton, UK, found that medications for erectile dysfunction can increase the effects of chemotherapy for esophageal cancer.
