Ecstasy, Antidepressants May Be Cancer Fighters: Study
The illegal drug Ecstasy and antidepressants have the potential to halt the growth of cancer cells, according to researchers at the University of Birmingham in England.
In laboratory tests, the scientists found that amphetamine derivatives such as Ecstasy and weight loss pills, along with antidepressants such as Prozac, blocked cancer growth in more than half of 17 lymphoma (white blood cell cancer) samples. Cancer growth was slowed in nine of the 17 samples when they were exposed to antidepressants and in 11 of the 17 samples when they were exposed to the amphetamine derivatives, BBC News reported.
The findings, which appear in the FASEBJ Journal, could lead to new cancer therapies, the researchers said.
"We think that a range of psychotropic agents that are being used, or sometimes abused, for other reasons will now help us in our fight against all different types of cancer," Professor John Gordon told BBC News.
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