Erectile dysfunction drugs allowed more chemotherapy to reach brain tumors in laboratory study

In a study using laboratory animals, researchers found that medications commonly prescribed for erectile dysfunction opened a mechanism called the blood-brain tumor barrier and increased delivery of cancer-fighting drugs to malignant brain tumors.

The drugs blocked an enzyme and opened blood vessels to tumors but not normal brain. According to the researchers, these findings may have significant implications in improving drug delivery to brain tumors in patients. According to the researchers, these findings may have significant implications in improving drug delivery to brain tumors in patients.

The experiments were conducted at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute and published in Brain Research.