DRUGS that treat cancer could also help prevent one of the key causes of heart disease, research suggests.
The technology behind nanoparticle drugs used for treating tumours could also be used for helping patients with atherosclerosis, according to experts.
GettyDrugs that treat cancer could also help prevent one of the key causes of heart disease, research suggests[/caption]
Dr Bryan Smith, of Michigan State University, said the “Trojan horse” tiny, engineered particles that target immune cells could be used to treat both killer diseases in the future.
Writing in The Conversation, he said: “The possibility of applying the same drug to two different patient populations offers big financial and risk-reduction incentives.
“It also offers the potential for simultaneous treatment for patients with both diseases.
“Because of the parallels between cancer and cardiovascular disease, cancer nanodrugs may be strong drug candidates to treat cardiovascular disease and vice versa.”
More than 3million Brits have atherosclerotic heart disease, according to Government figures.
Atherosclerosis is particularly common in people aged over 65 or with a family history of heart disease and is caused by a build-up of fatty plaques in the arteries.
This causes the walls of your arteries to harden and narrow until blood can’t pass properly from your heart to the rest of your body, according to the British Heart Foundation.
In the long-term, this can cause a range of deadly conditions, including coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke.
Some 3million Brits currently live with cancer, with experts predicting the number will increase to 5million.
Some 167,000 die every year with the disease.
Dr Smith said cancer and atherosclerosis are both inflammatory diseases, meaning they can be caused by the body’s immune system going into overdrive.
This means single drugs that use the immune system could hold potential for treating both disease, he said.
Previous research, published in Nature, showed drugs that target immune cells to make them kill tumours can also be used to clear dead and dying cells in atherosclerosis.
Cancer nanodrugs may be strong drug candidates to treat cardiovascular disease and vice versa
Dr Bryan Smith
Other studies show antiglycolytic therapies that prevent the breakdown of glucose can make both atherosclerotic and tumour blood vessels look more “normal”, Dr Smith said.
The latest research suggests nanotubes — carbon particles that are 10,000 times thinner than a human hair — could also be used to treat both diseases.
The tech can be used to carry drugs and enter tumours as a “Trojan horse”, he said.
One paper, published in the Journal of Immunology, showed that immune cells carrying the tubes naturally hone in on tumour cells because of the inflammatory response.
Another study, published in Nature Nanotechnology, revealed the nanotubes could also be loaded with a therapy that causes immune cells to eat plaque debris.
This reduces the size of plaques in the arteries, and could reduce the risk of atherosclerosis as a result.
Dr Smith said further research is needed but hopes in the future “patients will be the beneficiaries of better therapies that can treat both” diseases.