Researchers: Oltipraz May Help Inhibit Colorectal Tumors

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center and Cephalon Inc. report that the drug Oltipraz may stop or prevent the growth of blood vessels that nourish colorectal tumors as well as provide an antioxidant effect to fight the disease.

Margie Clapper, PhD, cell biologist, has been studying Oltipraz for more than 10 years and has found the drug was able to raise blood levels of protective "detoxification" enzymes that help fend off cancer.

These enzymes are similar to the antioxidant compounds in broccoli, cabbage and similar vegetables. In her prior research, Clapper tested Oltipraz in people at a high risk of developing colon cancer and found that the drug performed substantially better than dried broccoli tablets at increasing their level of protective enzymes.

Clapper more recently focused on patients with ulcerative colitis, a disease which increases a patient's risk of developing colorectal cancer by 10 times. In studies on mice, Oltipraz inhibited colitis-linked colon cancer.

Researchers are now ready to begin testing Oltipraz on humans to see if it has the same preventive effect as it did with the mice. Because researchers also saw tumor growth halted without an elevation of detoxification enzymes, researchers were led to analyze the ability of Oltipraz to stop or prevent the growth of the blood vessels that feed tumors (anti-angiogenesis ability).

"Based on our work with animal tumor models, Oltipraz may not only be a cancer prevention agent but may also be effective in treating patients with advanced stage cancers and metastases," said Clapper. "We're still doing pre-clinical testing."

Other Sources: Fox Chase Cancer Center