Drug used for cocaine addiction may treat advanced colon cancer, uOttawa researchers find

Doctors may soon have a new treatment option for patients with advanced colon cancer, as researchers at the University of Ottawa have found that a drug used to treat cocaine addiction could treat advanced colon cancer. (uOttawa/ handout)

Doctors may soon have a new treatment option for patients with advanced colon cancer, as researchers at the University of Ottawa have found that a drug used to treat cocaine addiction could treat advanced colon cancer.

The drug -- Vanoxerine -- plays an entirely unexpected role in fighting cancer, the university said in a news release about the "new, cutting-edge" study on Tuesday.

“The investigators observed that vanoxerine packs a powerful punch when suppressing cancer stem cell activity in colon cancer patients’ tissues and in tumours implanted in laboratory animals," the university said. "It interferes with a protein that transports dopamine, the brain chemical involved in sensations of pleasure and reward, and represses an enzyme dubbed G9a in colorectal tumours."

The research is led by Dr. Yannick Benoit -- associate professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (Faculty of Medicine) at uOttawa. Dr. Benoit says this finding is significant, considering the fact that tumours tend to show poor response to standard immunotherapy.

“Notably, the tumours treated with vanoxerine become more susceptible to attack by the immune system due to the reactivation of ancient viral DNA fragments accumulated in our genome throughout evolution. This finding is quite significant,” he explained.

The drug was tested on healthy human and mouse tissues. During the testing process, the healthy tissues were not harmed by the drug. This means it’s “a safe way to eliminate cancer stem cells in colorectal tumours without harming the ‘good stem cells’ in the body's organs.”

Colorectal cancer silent killer: uOttawa

Colorectal cancer is called a "silent killer" since its symptoms do not show in the early stages and only start to appear when it’s too late, the university says.

“Because it’s frequently diagnosed at advanced stages when treatment options are few, it is imperative to discover new methods of beating back colorectal cancer cells and tumours. When seeking a drug safely tested in patients, the most promising option turned out to be vanoxerine, a dopamine reuptake inhibitor,” read the release.

While the new suggested method sounds promising, Dr. Benoit says, prevention and early detection remains the best practice.

“For those unfortunate people diagnosed with advanced and aggressive forms of colorectal cancer, we profoundly hope our work can lead to the development of powerful options for treatment in the future and substantially increase their survival chances,” said Dr. Benoit.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, it's estimated that 1 in 16 men and 1 in 18 women will develop colorectal cancer during their lifetime.

The research was published in Nature Cancer.