A drug used to treat high cholesterol is now being administered to help fight tumors.  The treatment, lovastatin, is part of a new trial in which it stopped or eradicated tumors in 80% of patients.

Lovastatin was introduced in 1980 to fight lipids and lower cholesterol.  In early studies, researchers noticed a strange side effect: the drug killed cancer cells in laboratory trials.  In order to safely administer the drug, researchers have had to combine lovastatin with other treatment plans.  According to NeoPlas Innovation Director of Research Dr. Stephen Cantrell, "When we have administered a precisely timed regimen of low-dose interferon with lovastatin, tumors have begun regressing, sometimes within just a few weeks."

The lovastatin regimen is expected to fight a number of malignancies, including mesothelioma.  The drug's initial trial occurred in 2000; a patient who then had stage 4 melanoma remains disease-free today.

Unlike chemotherapy, lovastatin's most commonly reported side effect is fatigue.  Patients will not experience nausea, hair loss, vomiting, or immune system suppression.  For the full press release on lovastatin, click here.

For information on clinical trials and studies, visit the MesoRC page here.