Leukemia Drugs Stir Hopes For Prevention, Treatment and Reversal of Type 1 Diabetes

The ongoing challenge of developing drugs to win battles against multiple diseases continues to be a major hurdle. Even with the global leap in technological advancement and the access to some of the world’s most brilliant scientific minds, many medical conditions remain difficult to treat and have no known cure. In addition, the only prospect for prevention the development of a healthy lifestyle, which provides us with no guarantees. Such is the case in the fight against Type 1 diabetes.

However, new hope can spring from unexpected places. In this case, an optimistic outlook could come in the form of two drugs commonly prescribed for the treatment of leukemia being used to prevent, treat and perhaps reverse Type 1 Diabetes.

With all the new approaches now used in modern drug discovery and formulation by the pharmaceutical industry, it comes as no surprise that a medication developed in anticipation of harnessing the devastating effects of one disease may become the treatment that wins the battle against another. A new study has shown that two leukemia drugs, Novartis made Gleevic (imatinib), and Pfizer’s Sutent (sunitinib) stop the progression of diabetes in mice. The research team consisted of members from the University of California, San Francisco and the Berkeley-based drug manufacturer Plexxikon.

During the analysis, the researches found that 80 percent of the mice ceased experiencing Type 1 diabetes symptoms within only 8-10 weeks of treatment with either drug. In addition, mice give daily doses of imitanib had either a delayed onset of the disease or did not exhibit any signs of developing the condition at all. The drugs worked by depressing the immune systems of the mice, causing them to maintain normal blood sugar levels even after treatment ended.

Imatinib is commonly used in leukemia patients to stop cancer cells from whereas sunitinib can halt the growth of kidney cancer cells. Both drugs inhibit enzymes that are necessary for cell communication and growth and are linked with inflammation and immunity. The researchers are very interested in knowing if these drugs could block some of the same enzymes associated with the development of Type 1 Diabetes.

In a statement, lead researcher, Jeffrey Bluestone, an immunologist at the University of California, San Francisco, stated, “There are very few drugs to treat type 1 diabetes, especially after disease onset, so this benefit, with a drug already proven to be safe and effective in cancer patients, is very promising.”

Bluestone acknowledged that the drugs might not work successfully in people. “These are animals studies, and moving from the animal to human is always a challenging and not always a successful transition, ” he said. More studies will be needed to determine if the therapy is viable for humans.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that commonly appears during childhood. The disease causes the body to attack the pancreas, limiting its ability to manufacture insulin, a hormone that assists cells in absorbing glucose to use as fuel. According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 15,000 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes every year. Although there is no known cure, patients can control it by receiving daily insulin injections.

It is estimated that Type 1 Diabetes affects between 5 and 10 percent of the 20 million Americans who suffer from diabetes. The more common form of type-2 diabetes is associated with obesity, poor diet and a lack of exercise.

The results of the study were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.