Scientists have discovered that pairing two cancer medicines already in use could offer new hope for men battling advanced prostate cancer.
The breakthrough research from the Institute of Cancer Research suggests that this combination therapy may help 40 per cent of patients with hard-to-treat forms of the disease.
The study, conducted on mice, found that when two specific drugs work together, they create what researchers describe as a "one-two punch" against tumours.
The news is particularly encouraging for men whose cancers have stopped responding to standard treatments and who face limited options.
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The drugs work together to trigger the death of cancer cells
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What makes this discovery especially promising is that both medicines are already being used or tested for other cancers, which could speed up their availability for prostate cancer patients.
The treatment involves fadraciclib, currently being tested for blood cancer, working alongside either ipasertib or capivasertib.
Ipasertib is being investigated for breast cancer treatment, while capivasertib has already gained approval for treating breast cancer patients.
These medicines work by blocking proteins that cancers hijack to power their growth. When used together, they cut off these crucial pathways and trigger the death of cancer cells.
The results revealed that while using just one drug proved ineffective, the combination slowed tumour growth by six times over just 10 days.
Even better, the treatment doesn't merely slow the cancer's progress - it actively destroys cancerous cells.
Dr Adam Sharp, who leads the Translational Therapeutics Group at the ICR in London, explained the significance of these findings.
"For men with advanced prostate cancer, once hormone therapies stop working, the outcomes are bleak," he said.
"Researchers are constantly searching for new treatment options, but discovering and developing a new drug from scratch is a lengthy process."
He noted that their team examined numerous medicines already in development or approved for cancer treatment.
"We identified a particularly promising pairing that could help patients with advanced prostate cancer, and our data suggests that up to 40 per cent of people with this disease could benefit."
Dr Sharp added: "Excitingly, we found that the treatment doesn't just slow tumour growth, it actually kills cancer cells. We're cautiously optimistic that this approach may better prevent resistance to treatment from occurring."
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Prostate cancer remains the most frequent cancer diagnosis among British men
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Prostate cancer remains the most frequent cancer diagnosis among British men, with approximately 67,000 new cases and 12,000 deaths annually across the UK.
The research team now hopes to begin clinical trials to test whether this drug combination can effectively treat the 40 per cent of advanced prostate cancer patients whose tumours match the specific type studied.
The findings appeared in the journal Nature Communications, marking an important step forward in repurposing existing medicines for new uses.
This approach of testing already-approved drugs could significantly reduce the time needed to bring new treatments to patients, compared with developing entirely new medicines from the ground up.
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