Cancer and anemia often go hand in hand. Many people undergoing cancer treatment develop anemia, a condition in which the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen efficiently.
This can leave patients feeling tired, weak, short of breath, and less able to cope with treatment. Doctors often have to manage these two problems separately, treating the cancer while also trying to improve the patient’s red blood cell levels.
Now, researchers in Finland have discovered something unexpected that could one day help address both issues at the same time.
Scientists from the University of Oulu and the University of Eastern Finland have found that a group of drugs already used to treat anemia may also slow the growth of cancer cells. Their findings were published in the journal Redox Biology.
The medications involved belong to a class known as HIF-PHIs. These drugs are already approved for treating anemia in people with chronic kidney disease. Patients with kidney disease often struggle to produce enough red blood cells because their kidneys cannot make adequate amounts of a hormone called erythropoietin, which stimulates red blood cell production.
HIF-PHI drugs help solve this problem by affecting the body’s response to oxygen levels. Normally, cells use special proteins to detect when oxygen levels are low.
When oxygen is scarce, the body activates pathways that encourage the production of more red blood cells. HIF-PHI medications stabilize these proteins, allowing the body to produce more red blood cells even when oxygen levels are normal.
Until now, scientists believed these drugs worked mainly through this oxygen-sensing system. However, the Finnish research team discovered that the story may be much more complex.
The researchers, led by Professor Thomas Kietzmann from the Hypoxia and Extracellular Matrix Research Unit at the University of Oulu, found that the drugs affected cell growth and blood vessel formation in ways that could not be fully explained by the known oxygen-sensing pathway.
Blood vessels are essential for tumor growth. Like healthy tissues, tumors need a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients. To obtain these resources, cancers often stimulate the formation of new blood vessels. This process helps tumors grow larger and spread to other parts of the body.
The researchers found that HIF-PHI drugs appeared to interfere with both cell growth and the formation of new blood vessels.
Surprisingly, these effects were observed even when the proteins normally involved in oxygen sensing were absent. This suggests the drugs may be working through additional biological mechanisms that scientists did not previously recognize.
According to Professor Kietzmann, this was an unexpected discovery. The research team originally assumed that the medications would act only through the established oxygen pathway. Instead, they found evidence that the drugs could independently limit cell growth and reduce blood vessel formation.
This finding is particularly interesting because many cancer patients also suffer from anemia. Tumors themselves can contribute to anemia, and chemotherapy treatments frequently make the condition worse. As a result, managing anemia is often an important part of cancer care.
If future studies confirm the new findings, HIF-PHI drugs could potentially provide a double benefit. They might help increase red blood cell production while also slowing tumor growth. Such an approach could improve patient comfort and possibly enhance the effectiveness of existing cancer treatments.
The researchers suggest that combining these medications with traditional chemotherapy may offer additional advantages.
Chemotherapy remains one of the most common methods for treating cancer, but it often causes significant side effects and does not work equally well for every patient. Adding a medication that addresses both anemia and tumor growth could potentially improve overall treatment outcomes.
However, the researchers emphasize that the current findings come from laboratory studies rather than clinical trials involving patients. What works in cells or experimental systems does not always produce the same results in real-world medical settings. More research is needed before doctors can determine whether these drugs truly provide cancer-related benefits in patients.
The team is now seeking collaborations with oncologists and clinical researchers who can help test the findings in cancer patients. Clinical trials will be necessary to evaluate safety, effectiveness, and the extent of any anti-cancer effects.
One strength of the study is that it uncovered previously unknown biological actions of medications that are already approved for medical use. Repurposing existing drugs can often speed up the development of new treatments because much is already known about their safety.
However, an important limitation is that the research remains at an early stage, and no direct evidence yet shows improved cancer outcomes in patients.
Overall, the findings open an exciting new area of research. While it is too early to conclude that anemia medications can treat cancer, the discovery suggests that these drugs may influence cancer biology in ways scientists had not anticipated.
If confirmed through clinical studies, they could eventually become part of a more comprehensive approach to treating cancer patients who also struggle with anemia.
The study was published in Redox Biology.
Source: University of Oulu and University of Eastern Finland.
