cancer drugs seem to stop type 1 diabetes

November 27, 2008

Two Cancer Drugs Show Promise For Preventing and Reversing Type 1 Diabetes

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have reported

that two common cancer drugs have been used to block and reverse type 1

diabetes.

" The findings suggest that kinase inhibitors - successfully used in cancer -

may provide an important new therapeutic approach for treatment of new onset

type 1 diabetes and potentially other autoimmune disorders, " said JDRF

Director of Immunology Teodora Staeva, Ph.D.

The drugs - Imatinib and Sunitnib, sold as Gleevec and Sutent, respectively

- are used to treat cancer by blocking tyrosine kinases, an enzyme that

modify

cells' signaling proteins through a simple biochemical change. Kinases

trigger cell growth, and it is widely believed that tyrosine kinases are a

contributing

factor to autoimmune diseases and cancer. The researchers hypothesized that

tyrosine kinases may also serve as a trigger to the body's attack on the

immune

system.

" There are very few drugs to treat type 1 diabetes, especially after disease

onset, so this benefit, with a drug already proven to be safe and effective

in cancer patients, is very promising, " Bluestone of the University

of California, San Francisco, said in a statement.

" The fact that the treated mice maintained normal blood glucose levels for

some time after the drug treatment was stopped suggests that imatinib and

sunitinib

may be 'reprogramming' their immune systems in a permanent way, " said

Bluestone.

Type-1 diabetes affects an estimated 5 to 10 percent of the 20 million

Americans with diabetes. Also called juvenile diabetes, it has different

causes

from the more common type-2 diabetes that is linked with obesity, poor diet

and a lack of exercise. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease caused by

the destruction of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

Both Gleevec and Sutent inhibit tyrosine kinases, enzymes that are needed

for cell communication and growth and are linked with inflammation and

immunity.

Bluestone and colleagues wondered if these drugs could block some of the

same tyrosine kinases involved in the development of type 1 diabetes.

They tested the drugs in mice predisposed to type 1 diabetes and found that

the drugs kept the mice from developing diabetes.

They also tested them in mice with the disease and showed the drugs put the

disease in remission in 80 percent of the animals after only eight to 10

weeks

of treatment.

They said the drugs appear to block receptors of a tyrosine kinase not known

to be involved in diabetes. This enzyme, known as platelet-derived growth

factor

receptor, or PDGFR, regulates cell growth and division, and also plays a key

role in inflammation.

" This study opens up a new area of research in the field of type 1 diabetes,

and importantly, opens up exciting opportunities for developing new

therapies

to treat this disease and other autoimmune diseases, " Dr. Arthur Weiss of

University of California, San Francisco, who worked on the research, said in

a statement.

The JDRF-funded study,was led by Bluestone, Ph.D., director of the

Diabetes Center at UCSF and an expert in the field of autoimmunity.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nov, 2008

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This article originally posted November 25, 2008 and appeared in

Issue 444

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This article originally posted

November 25, 2008

and appeared in

Issue 444

Two Cancer Drugs Show Promise For Preventing and Reversing Type 1 Diabetes

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have reported

that two common cancer drugs have been used to block and reverse type 1

diabetes.

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This article originally posted

November 25, 2008

and appeared in

Issue 444

Two Cancer Drugs Show Promise For Preventing and Reversing Type 1 Diabetes

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have reported

that two common cancer drugs have been used to block and reverse type 1

diabetes.

Diabetes In Control Sponsors

http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/aserver/adclick.php?n=a8e6d6c1

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