MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Pan Pantziarka, PhD Scientist: Anticancer Fund (www.anticancerfund.org) Coordinator: Repurposing Drugs in Oncology (www.redo-project.org) MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This study is part of the Repurposing Drugs in Oncology (ReDO) project to look at a series of non-cancer drugs which have strong evidence of anti-cancer effects. Other drugs have included the antacid cimetidine, the antibiotic clarithromycin and the NSAID diclofenac. The data for propranolol comes from multiple sources: epidemiological data and retrospective data from cancer patients who have also been treated concurrently with propranolol, pre-clinical work in vitro and in animal models and from case series reports in which cancer patients have had propranolol added to their existing treatments. The main findings are that propranolol has multiple mechanisms of action, including anti-proliferative and immunomodulation. There is particularly strong evidence that shows that propranolol has potent effects in the treatment of the rare soft-tissue sarcoma angiosarcoma. It is also suggested that when used at the time of surgery, propranolol in combination with a COX-2 inhibitor, can reduce the risk of metastatic spread. (more…)