Viagra 'helps the body fight cancer'

The Scotsman reports:

VIAGRA and other impotence drugs help switch on the immune system to attack a range of cancers, a study has found.

The disease usually manages to avoid destruction partly because tumours produce a fog of chemicals that hide it from white blood cells.

But Viagra, a brand name for sildenafil, and other such drugs were found to reduce the amount of these chemicals, enabling the immune system to target the cancer more effectively.

Tests at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Centre in the United States found the drug reduced the size of colon and breast tumours in mice threefold.

In mice which were genetically engineered to lack an immune system, the tumours were unaffected, showing that Viagra was helping the body's natural defence mechanisms fight the disease.

Laboratory tests on human cancer cells showed similar results and clinical trials are planned for next year.

They will also see if prostate cancer patients who take Viagra to deal with the impotence that can be a side-effect experience lower rates of recurrence.

Professor Ivan Borrello, of Johns Hopkins, said the drug might help prevent recurrence of the disease after surgery.

"I could envisage using it in combination with chemotherapy," he said.

The amazing,little blue pill gets more amazing.