Katie A. -- In 2007, it was discovered that a drug used to treat HIV also has properties that seem to kill cancer cells. Clinical trials were set into motion to evaluate the best dosage for cancer patients to receive this new medicine in. Experiments were set up with mice and 60 different types of human cancer cells, and it was found that three of the drugs from the HIV medication blocked the growth of the cancer cells. The most effective medication, Nelfinavir, showed evidence that it could be used to treat even cancer cells that were resistant to radiation and common chemotherapy drugs. Assuming that the toxicity levels in Nelfinavir are tolerable in humans, and it can be proven to be combative toward cancer within humans instead of merely isolated cells, it will be added to the repertoire of medications for dealing with cancer.
I thought this article was interesting because it shows us a way to get two positive results from one medicine. This means that we would have to worry less about the ways that medicines conflict with each other in patients who have both diseases. A newer article would be better, because the ideas discussed in this one may have already happened, but over all it is an interesting topic. The information is useful because it offers specifics on the types of cells the medicine was tested on, along with details about the process used to collect the data.
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