A medicine famous for treating erectile dysfunction may also help fight one of cancer’s deadliest features.
Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science report that sildenafil, better known by the brand name Viagra, may reduce the ability of cancer cells to spread throughout the body. Their findings were published in Cancer Research.
Although Viagra has become closely associated with sexual health, it was originally created to improve blood flow in people with heart problems.
Scientists are now discovering that the same biological pathway may influence how cancer cells obtain cholesterol, an essential material they need to survive and spread.
Cancer becomes much more dangerous when it metastasizes. During metastasis, cancer cells break away from the original tumor, travel through the blood or lymphatic system, and establish new tumors in distant organs. Preventing this process is one of the major goals of cancer research.
The researchers found that sildenafil raises levels of a natural signaling molecule called cGMP by blocking the enzyme PDE5. Higher cGMP levels interfere with the movement of cholesterol inside cells by affecting an important cholesterol-transport protein.
Without enough cholesterol, cancer cells struggle to build cell membranes and perform many of the tasks needed for successful metastasis. As a result, their ability to spread appears to be reduced in experimental models.
The team also investigated whether statins could make sildenafil work even better. Statins lower cholesterol production throughout the body, while sildenafil limits cancer cells’ access to cholesterol already present inside cells. Together, these medicines may attack the cancer’s cholesterol supply from two directions.
The study combined evidence from mouse models, human cancer cell experiments, and medical records from about five million people followed over twenty years. Patients who used sildenafil, particularly with statins, showed better survival in the health database analysis.
Despite these encouraging findings, the researchers caution that patients should not use Viagra as a cancer treatment without medical advice. The study does not prove that sildenafil directly improves survival because the patient data were observational rather than from controlled clinical trials.
The discovery highlights the growing understanding that cancer is influenced not only by genetic mutations but also by metabolism and medicines taken for other health conditions. Existing drugs may sometimes be repurposed for entirely new medical uses after careful testing.
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Source: Weizmann Institute of Science.
