Repurposed Leukemia Drug May Help Prevent Secondary Breast

Secondary breast cancer is a severe occurs when a person's breast cancer has spread to other body parts. These places may include organs like the lungs, brain, and even one's bones.

The reason why secondary breast cancer is so severe is that it is incurable. At best, this diagnosis can be managed by reliving its symptoms and ensuring a person's quality of life stays constant. Fortunately, many patients with this diagnosis can still live fulfilling lives.

However, there is news that scientists are working to find a treatment course for secondary breast cancer. One of which involves using a drug for leukemia.

According to News Scientist, a repurposed drug used to treat leukemia shows promising results in treating secondary breast cancer.

Imatinib is widely prescribed to people who have chronic myeloid leukemia. In an experiment led by Frances Turell at the Institute of Cancer Research in the UK, administering Imatinib to mice with estrogen-receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer slows down the growth rate of secondary tumors.

ER+ breast cancer is the most common type of breast cancer diagnosed. During experimentation, the effect of administering Imatinib helped prevent secondary breast cancer cells from spreading to other parts of the body.

Considering that secondary breast cancer is incurable, finding possible prevention of breast cancer cells spreading is a milestone that offers a lot of hope.

However, because it's in the initial stages of research, there is no telling whether this drug may be effective for human use.

It's also important to note that Imatinib has uncomfortable side effects like stomach and fatigue, making it a risk for a few. Still, there is hope, and as long as researchers continue to make progress, patients may finally have more options for treatment.

While there is little information on whether Imatinib may be a potential drug for breast cancer treatment, modern medicine is clearly on the path of finding newer and innovative ways to treat breast cancer.

- by Diane Davies, author, Jeannie Ann's Grandma Has Breast Cancer