Celebrex, one of the cox-2 painkillers under fire for increasing heart attack and stroke risk, may actually slow certain cancers in a way that its cousin, Vioxx, does not, according to new preliminary research.
Both drugs, known as cox-2 inhibitors, have already been shown to inhibit the growth of tumors that depend on the cox-2 enzyme, as happens with some prostate and breast cancers.
But a new study finds that Celebrex (celecoxib) appears to fight prostate cancer on another front, by blocking a key protein that is essential to the replication of cancer cells. This latest report appears in the March 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.
“Celecoxib can mediate anti-tumor effects by mechanisms in addition to targeting cox-2, which is its known target,” said lead researcher Dr. Andrew Dannenberg, director of cancer prevention at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City. “This suggests that the agent’s overall anticancer activity may reflect cox-2 inhibition and other properties.”
