Antibiotics as new Cancer Treatments?

A new way to eradicate cancer stem cells, using the side-effects of commonly used antibiotics, has been discovered by a University of Manchester researcher following a conversation with his young daughter. Professor Michael P. Lisanti, Director of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Unit, led the research. He was inspired to look at the effects of antibiotics on the mitochondria of cancer stem cells by a conversation with his daughter Camilla about his work at the University's Institute of Cancer Sciences.
Mitochondria are the 'engine' parts of the cells and are the source of energy for the stem cells as they mutate and divide to cause tumors. Cancer stem cells are strongly associated with the growth and recurrence of all cancers and are especially difficult to eradicate with normal treatment, which also leads to tumors developing resistance to other types of therapy.
Professor Lisanti worked with colleagues from The Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York and the Kimmel Cancer Center, Philadelphia. The team used five types of antibiotics, including one used to treat acne (doxycycline), on cell lines of eight different types of tumor and found that four of them eradicated the cancer stem cells in every test. This included glioblastoma, the most aggressive of brain tumors, as well as lung, prostate, ovarian, breast, pancreatic and skin cancer.
In the lab, the antibiotics had no harmful effect on normal cells, and since they are already approved for use in humans, trials of new treatments should be simpler than with new drugs, saving time and money.
Professor Lisanti said: "This research makes a strong case for opening new trials in humans for using antibiotics to fight cancer. Many of the drugs we used were extremely effective, there was little or no damage to normal cells and these antibiotics have been in use for decades and are already approved by the FDA for use in humans. However, of course, further studies are needed to validate their efficacy, especially in combination with more conventional therapies."