By Monika Kundu Srivastava
New Delhi: Combining commonly used pain killers with a metal belonging to the platinum group may prove effective in treatment of cancer, a new study by Indian scientists has indicated.
Researchers have combined ruthenium, a metal which is part of the platinum group, with commonly used pain killers (categorized as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) to develop four new drug complexes. These have been found effective in treatment of cancer. The two groups of drugs used in the study work against cancer cells in different ways thus creating a more effective and holistic way of treating the disease, researchers have claimed.
The use of metals such as platinum in anticancer drugs is not new but such drugs result in side effects which also need to be treated. Drug combinations using ruthenium are believed to be more effective and are better tolerated by patients. Drugs like ibuprofen, diclofenac and aspirin are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and are commonly used for their pain relieving effects. These drugs also have a role to play in cancer treatment by blocking the enzymes responsible for pain, swelling and causing changes to normal cells in the body.
In the new study, anticancer activities of four new combination drugs with ruthenium – complex 1 (with naproxen), complex 2 (with diclofenac), complex 3 (with ibuprofen) and complex 4 (with aspirin) – were tested against lung, breast and cervix cancer cell lines in laboratory.