In what spells the potential for turning the fatal form of prostate cancer into a manageable condition, researchers at Cambridge University are of the opinion that a prototype obesity drug can stall the growth of tumour cells in the prostate!

According to the researchers, led by Dr Ian Mills, experimental obesity drug called STO 609 can play a vital role in inhibiting the production of prostate-related gene - the enzyme CAMKK2 -; thereby slowing down and apparently even reversing the growth of tumours.

Noting that the experimental obesity drug can be modified to treat prostate cancer - which kills nearly 10,000 men in Britain every year -, Dr Mills said: “Prostate cancer is a slow growing cancer and if you can slow it down even further you can turn it from a fatal condition to a chronic one that can be managed.”

In its trial of the drug on mice, the research team has showed that the use of STO 609, to stop the production as well as activity of CAMKK2, can not only block the spread of prostate cancer cells but also reduce the size of the tumour.

Terming the study as an “important” one, Dr Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer information, said that it investigates the manner in which prostate cancer cells use and generate energy; thereby providing “a promising new route to search for ways to detect and treat different stages of the disease, to continue to improve survival from prostate cancer in the future”!