Potential Anti-cancer Activity
Nelfinavir were under investigation, in 2009, for potential use as an anti-cancer agent. When applied to cancer cells in culture (in vitro), it can inhibit the growth of a variety cancer types and can trigger cell death (apoptosis). When Nelfinavir was given to laboratory mice with tumors of the prostate or of the brain, it could suppress tumor growth in these animals. In vitro tests showed it may work well with sorafenib
In the United States, several clinical trials were conducted in 2008 that sought to verify whether nelfinavir is effective as a cancer therapeutic agent in humans. In some of these trials, nelfinavir was used alone in monotherapy fashion, whereas in others it was combined with other modes of cancer therapy, such as well-established chemotherapeutic agents or radiation therapy.
Good phase I results were obtained for locally advanced pancreatic cancer.
In the UK, in 2010, a phase I trial (of nelfinavir with radiotherapy), on patients with inoperable cancer, showed a doubling of survival times, and six patients had tumor regression to the extent that they became operable.
Read more about this topic: Nelfinavir
Famous quotes containing the words potential and/or activity:
“Children are potentially free and their life directly embodies nothing save potential freedom. Consequently they are not things and cannot be the property either of their parents or others.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“What have we achieved in mowing down mountain ranges, harnessing the energy of mighty rivers, or moving whole populations about like chess pieces, if we ourselves remain the same restless, miserable, frustrated creatures we were before? To call such activity progress is utter delusion. We may succeed in altering the face of the earth until it is unrecognizable even to the Creator, but if we are unaffected wherein lies the meaning?”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)