
Researchers Develop ‘Trojan Horse’ Drug That Tricks, Then Kills Cancer Cells - spking
https://www.studyfinds.org/strategic-medicine-researchers-develop-trojan-horse-drug-that-tricks-then-kills-cancer-cells/
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izuchukwu
Paclitaxel, an existing chemotherapy agent, kills cancer by interfering with
microtubule dynamics in cells, the same way that Fenbendazole and other
antihelmintics (dewormers) attack cancer in the recent post about someone
curing themselves by taking OTC dog dewormer [0].

Unlike the dog dewormer, today’s Paclitaxel regimens are quite toxic.
Interestingly, most of the toxicity comes from the method of delivery [1], not
the drug itself. It’s actually why the way we give it (infrequent doses)
actually promotes recurrence in some cases. This post talks about a much less
toxic method of delivery, which explains why they can up the dose of the drug
significantly while still being much safer.

[0]:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20486893](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20486893)

[1]:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paclitaxel](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paclitaxel)

~~~
Gatsky
There are several inaccuracies in your comment. Infusion reactions to
paclitaxel are rare and not serious. Most of the toxicity arises from
cumulative nerve damage with chronic use.

There is also no evidence it promotes cancer recurrence.

~~~
joadha
You better believe the infusion reactions can be serious, despite what any
medical literature may be leading you to believe. My father went into
anaphylaxis within minutes of his Taxol infusion. My family was kicked out of
the treatment room while six medical workers stabilized him over the course of
an afternoon.

~~~
cannonedhamster
My reaction wasn't as severe but I had a taxol based reaction as well. It's a
barrel of fun, luckily mine was treatable with Benadryl. I don't envy you or
your father.

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PakG1
This language seems to be really gaining popularity. I believe this is the
third or fourth time I've seen a cancer treatment referred to as a Trojan
Horse. I have some stock in such a company, they're about to start Phase 2
clinical trials. It's a great time for cancer treatments in that I don't think
there's ever been as much positivity as now about our chances to effectively
treat various types of cancers. There's been lots of great progress. As
someone who's father had to go through multiple cancer surgeries, I hope the
day comes when we can consider cancer not much a bigger deal than the flu.
Probably still a pipe dream, but it's a nice dream.

~~~
rolltiide
Out of curiosity

If your company is a for profit share company making inroads in this, then
what is the point of donating money when the real progress seems to happens on
the invested money looking for returns

~~~
cannonedhamster
You're typically donating to patient treatments, which are very expensive, and
most treatment options don't work out long term if you're at the point where
you're on clinical trials. There's also a lot of pure research into cancer
itself.

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aarbor989
I feel like we hear about _potential_ breakthrough cancer cures daily, but
then never hear about them again. Do they not make it past animal testing or
is our healthcare system so slow that it just takes forever for trials to move
along?

~~~
vaylian
Every cancer is different. There will never be a single drug that deals with
all cancers at once. Every cancer originates from a specific organ and even
though the cancer is a collective of degenerated cells, it's program will
still resemble the program of the original cells.

The nasty thing about cancers is that their development is probabilistic. Some
cancers may develop in a more common way for which there are already effective
drugs. But you might also get unlucky and get a less typical/less studied form
of a cancer and then your treatment options are much worse.

~~~
cannonedhamster
This is slightly inaccurate. Pan-cancer treatments are rare but do exist, for
example checkpoint inhibitors. They just work differently on every cancer and
have different outcomes for each type of cancer. The single biggest factor
right now on treatment outcomes is how quickly you find the cancer, because
surgery early on is the best treatment, usually followed up with chemotherapy.
These "miracle" treatments really are most impactful for late stage patients,
especially those that aren't very expressive which means it's harder to find
something to bind to the cancer cells and kill them.

------
chrisbennet
Would the molecules cross the blood brain barrier? Is there a trial of this
anywhere? (I have an inoperable brain tumor.)

~~~
izuchukwu
I’m not a doctor, this is very much not medical advice, and I’ve only been
looking into these recently, but it does appear that the Benzimidazole class
of medications from that recent cured-by-dog-dewormer post [0] like
Albendazole and Mebendazole, both FDA approved as antihelmintics, do pass
through the blood-brain barrier [1][2], and is currently used to that effect
as a standard treatment for neurocysticercosis.

It appears a neurosurgery professor at Johns Hopkins that independently
discovered the link was interested in it for that very reason [3].

[0]:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20486893](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20486893)

[1]:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1874411/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1874411/)

[2]:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5403762/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5403762/)

[3]: [https://www.npr.org/sections/health-
shots/2017/01/30/5124002...](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-
shots/2017/01/30/512400204/a-pinworm-medication-is-being-tested-as-a-
potential-anti-cancer-drug)

~~~
chrisbennet
Thank you.

