Old drug, new hope for cancer sufferers

Of the 11 patients in the trial who were on the placebo, six had a recurrence of cancer within three-and-a-half years, and three of those six died. Photo / Getty Images

After a new study last week showed that a daily dose of aspirin can double the life expectancy of patients with some cancers, many researchers now believe old-fashioned cheap drugs will provide the next big breakthrough in cancer treatment.

A woman who was suffering from bowel cancer when she took part in a 2010 trial of a 70p ($1.20) antimalarial pill based on an ancient Chinese herbal remedy has told how she was amazed such a cheap drug could produce such promising results.

Dorothy Bradshaw, 65, took the pills every day for two weeks before surgery to remove a 3.5cm tumour in a small clinical trial at St George's University of London looking at the cancer-fighting potential of the anti-malarial drug artesunate.

After two weeks on the tablets, Bradshaw's tumour had stopped growing and had not spread. Three days later, her colon was successfully removed along with the tumour.

Of the 11 patients in the trial who were on the placebo, six had a recurrence of cancer within three-and-a-half years, and three of those six died. Of the nine patients who took artesunate, one had a recurrence and none died.

"To think that a cheap antimalarial tablet we've known about for years might turn out to be a cancer drug," Bradshaw said. "Amazing, isn't it?"

Her consultant at St George's Hospital agrees.

"I'm extremely excited about this," said Professor Devinder Kumar who has been an oncologist for three decades.

"We already know this is a safe drug that has been taken by tens of millions of people around the world to treat malaria. It only costs about 70p per tablet compared with the 20 or 30 you might expect to spend on a daily dose of chemotherapy.

"If we can repeat the results of this small study in a larger trial this could really be a ground-breaker in the treatment of bowel cancer and one that wouldn't bankrupt the NHS."

The researchers at St George's conducted the first study in their own time with no funding. Only 20 patients took part and a Belgian manufacturer provided the pills for free.

The researchers are now close to embarking on a larger, 250,000 Phase II clinical trial involving 140 patients, to see if there is more solid evidence that artesunate could be used to fight cancer.