Botox® may fight stomach cancer

Botox® injections may help fight cancer, animal tests suggest. A study, published in Science Translational Medicine, showed nerves help stomach cancers grow. Research on mice found that using the toxin to kill nerves could halt the growth of stomach tumours and make them more vulnerable to chemotherapy.

Cancer Research UK said it was early days and it was unclear whether the injections could help save lives. Scientists Columbia University Medical Centre, in New York, and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology inn Trondheim investigated the role of thevagus nerve – which runs from the brain to the digestive system – in stomach cancer. Either cutting the nerve or usingthe toxin Botox®slowed the growthof tumours or made them moreresponsive to chemotherapy.

One of the scientists, Dr Timothy Wang, told the BBC, “At least in earlyphase, if you [disrupt the nerve] thetumour becomes much more responsiveto chemotherapy, so we don’t see thisas a single cure, but making currentand future treatments more effective.” Eleanor Barrie, senior science communications manager at CancerResearch UK, said, “ This interesting study adds to that evidence, and show probing the inner workings of cancer can spark ideas for innovative new treatments. But the research is at an early stage and it’s not yet clear if this particular approach could help to save patients’ lives.”

Janet Kettels, director, corporate affairs and public relations at Allergan,the makers of Botox®, commented,“Allergan were not involved in theprimary research study conducted by Dr Timothy Wang, Chun-Mei Zhoa andcolleagues at a number of institutesin Europe, the US and Asia. Moreoverthis is an off-license use of botulinum toxin type. We are therefore not in aposition to comment further.”