SATURDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- The drug dopamine --
currently used to treat patients with conditions such as
Parkinson's disease, pituitary tumors and heart attack -- may also
prove effective in cancer patients, a Mayo Clinic study finds.
In laboratory and mouse tests, researchers found dopamine can
help prevent the development of new blood vessels, something that
would slow the progression of cancer. The findings were published
in the online edition of the
Journal of Clinical Investigation.
"Researchers can now test this concept in solid tumors where
angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels) plays a critical role
in the growth and progression of these cancers," Dr. Sujit Basu, a
Mayo Clinic oncologist, said in a prepared statement.
Specifically, Basu and colleagues found that dopamine prevents
the transfer of endothelial progenitor cells (which help form new
blood vessels) from bone marrow into the circulatory system. The
drug does this by binding to a specific receptor on the surface of
the progenitor cells. This suppresses the activity of an enzyme
(MMP-9) that enables the progenitor cells to move out of bone
marrow.
In their experiments, the researchers found that dopamine
significantly decreased movement of progenitor cells from bone
marrow and decreased MMP-9 expression.
"Sometimes new drugs may not be the answer. We looked instead at
a novel use for an established product, and have found very
promising results," Basu said.
Natural dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that
regulates movement and affects behavior. The drug is a synthetic
form of the natural brain chemical.
"This is the first time it has been shown that an important
neurotransmitter like dopamine is regulating the mobilization of
these progenitor cells from the bone marrow. This is very
important, and represents why these findings are so unique," Basu
said.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about
angiogenesis.
