Treatment for erectile dysfunction combined with the flu vaccine may help the immune system prevent cancer from coming back after surgery, according to a recent Canadian study.
Research is still in its infancy, but it could well revolutionize the medical world. According to a Canadian study published in March in the scientific journal OncoImmunology and relayed Thursday, May 17 by the medical site EurekAlert.com, treatment for erectile dysfunction combined with a flu shot could help the immune system to mop up cancer cells after surgery, preventing the disease from coming back.
Researchers at the Ottawa Hospital administered Viagra, Cialis (erectile dysfunction treatment) and a flu vaccine to mice that had just been operated on for cancer. They were thus able to observe that this surprising cocktail limited the development of metastases by more than 90% in animals. Based on these results, they now want to extend their research to humans. The first trial is expected to involve 24 Ottawa Hospital patients with abdominal cancer. If the experiment is successful, it will be repeated on a larger scale and could ultimately save many lives.
The flu vaccine, a major ally?
“Surgery is very effective in removing serious tumors, but we now know that it can also destroy the immune system, making it easier to save cancer cells which could then spread to other organs”, explains Doctor Rebecca Auer, oncologist and chief of cancer research at the Ottawa Hospital.
Indeed, during cancer, surgery tends to lead to the development of myeloid suppressive cells (MDSC) which block those supposed to kill metastases naturally, commonly called NK cells (Natural Killer). However, during their research, researchers at the Ottawa Hospital discovered that erectile dysfunction treatments blocked CSBMs, allowing NKs to play a role in the fight against cancer. The flu vaccine would stimulate the latter.
“We are very excited because it shows that two safe and relatively inexpensive treatments can help solve a huge cancer problem. If clinical trials are successful, this could become the first treatment for problems caused by surgery on the system. immune “, continues Dr Auer. “This research is a big step forward which could, in the long term, widen the field of possibilities”, adds Doctor Lee-Hwa, co-author of the study.
The importance of not self-medicating
As in Canada, in France, the flu vaccine and erectile dysfunction drugs are very easily available to patients. Indeed, in France, the first is bought in pharmacies for a price ranging from 6 to 10 euros while the box of 20 Cialis tablets can be obtained without a prescription for 22 euros. Also, the researchers in this study call on patients not to self-medicate and not to change their treatment without first discussing it with their oncologist.
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