Celebrex combats skin cancer in vulnerable group
Anti-inflammatory drug limits tumors in patients with hereditary condition
By Nathan Seppa
The inflammation-fighting drug celecoxib prevents some outbreaks of skin cancer in people genetically predisposed to developing the malignancy, scientists report in the January Cancer Prevention Research.
People with a rare hereditary condition called Gorlin syndrome develop hundreds or even thousands of basal cell carcinomas in a lifetime. This predisposition stems from having an abnormal version of the PTCH1 gene which normally provides blueprints for a protein that helps to keep cell growth in check. The mutated PTCH1 gene results in a nonfunctional protein, removing a key obstacle for skin cancer.
Celecoxib, marketed as Celebrex, is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Other NSAIDs — including ibuprofen, aspirin and naproxen — suppress inflammation-causing enzymes called cyclo-oxygenase 1 and 2, but celecoxib inhibits mainly COX-2. Past research suggested that these COX inhibitors also have anticancer effects, and earlier tests in mice had shown that celecoxib itself thwarted another skin cancer, called squamous cell carcinoma.
The COX enzymes contribute to new blood vessel growth, which tumors need to survive, says dermatologist Jack Arbiser of Emory University in Atlanta.