Columbia University researchers have found a new use for a well-known blood thinner called warfarin. According to their study, warfarin seems to have strong properties against cancer.
They carried out tests in human cells and in mice, discovering that warfarin could stop cancer cells from blocking a process that causes cells to destroy themselves when something is wrong.
“Our results show that warfarin, which has already been approved by the FDA, might be used to treat many different types of cancer, including pancreatic cancer,” says Wei Gu, the study leader and a professor at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Exploring a New Cell Death Mechanism
The discovery about warfarin came out of a study that was trying to understand how a process called ferroptosis works.
This is a way cells can die that was recently discovered by Brent Stockwell, a Columbia chemist, and other scientists.
Researchers studying cancer are excited about the potential of using ferroptosis to kill cancer cells. This could be especially useful for treating cancers that can’t be cured with existing treatments.
To learn more about ferroptosis, Gu, Stockwell, and their colleagues performed genetic tests on human skin cancer cells to find genes that contribute to ferroptosis. They discovered a new gene called VKORC1L1 that can stop ferroptosis from happening.
The Role of Warfarin
The researchers then wanted to find out if warfarin could be used as a cancer drug. They knew that warfarin can block VKORC1L1, so they tested it on human pancreatic cancer cells.
They found that warfarin made these cells more likely to die through ferroptosis and also greatly slowed down tumor growth in mice with pancreatic cancer.
Warfarin, also sold under the brand name Coumadin, was first approved for medical use in 1954. It is widely used to prevent blood clots, which can cause serious problems like stroke, heart attack, or blood clots in the lungs.
Warfarin’s Potential as a Cancer Drug
Data from other studies also support the idea that warfarin could be useful against cancer.
Warfarin and other drugs that prevent blood clots are often given to cancer patients, who are at higher risk for blood clots.
Researchers have noticed that patients with pancreatic, stomach, and colon cancers who received warfarin lived significantly longer than those taking other blood thinners.
“Since warfarin has been used a lot in treating cancer patients, we think it could be tested soon as a drug against cancer, especially for tumors with high levels of VKORC1L1,” says Gu.
This could go beyond pancreatic and stomach cancers to include many other types. The researchers found that VKORC1L1 is a direct target of p53, a well-known gene that suppresses tumors and is mutated in more than half of all cancers.
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The study was published in Cell Metabolism.
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