Тиоридазин и онкология

By testing hundreds of compounds, they identified nearly 20 potential cancer stem cell specific drugs.
The one that appeared most promising is an antipsychotic drug, thioridazine, which combats the symptoms of schizophrenia by targeting dopamine receptors in the brain. But concerns about side effects of the drug, brand name Mellaril, have meant that far fewer people with schizophrenia are prescribed the drug than newer antipsychotic medications.
Researchers say thioridazine doesn’t appear to kill cancer stem cells, but rather encourages them to differentiate, thus exhausting the pool of self-renewing cells.
Investigators discovered thioridazine kills leukemia stem cells without affecting normal blood stem cells by comparing the proteins in leukemia versus normal blood cells.
Furthermore, leukemia cells, but not normal blood stem cells, express a dopamine receptor on their surfaces. This finding is supported by the discovery of dopamine receptors on some breast cancer stem cells.
“This gives us some explanation,” Bhatia said. It also suggests that dopamine receptors might serve as a biomarker for rare, tumor-initiating cells.
In light of the findings, Bhatia’s team is already planning for a clinical trial of the FDA-approved thioridazine in combination with standard anti-cancer drugs for adult acute myeloid leukemia.

 Drug Used for Schizophrenia May Check Cancer