A common drug that is usually prescribed to treat diarrhea may also be a powerful weapon against an aggressive type of brain cancer, suggests a new study published in the journal Autophagy. Loperamide, sold under the brand name Imodium, has previously been shown to induce cell death of glioblastoma cells, but the mechanism remained unknown until now.
In this latest study, the researchers found a pathway by which the drug induces the cells to self-destruct, called autophagy which means “self-eating”. By upregulating a gene that promotes cell death of glioblastoma cell lines, loperamide may be a promising drug candidate, which they now hope will open up new avenues to combat the deadly form of cancer.
“Our experiments with cell lines show that autophagy could support the treatment of glioblastoma brain tumours,” says lead author Dr Sjoerd van Wijk in a statement.
