Will Toenail Treatment Tame Cancer?

news you may not knowThese Are Perfect...

Ah, yes - it's all starting to come back. Flipping through the pages of your college yearbook has stirred distant memories and, oddly, awakened an unrelenting craving for your mother's meatloaf. Hmm...

It's also served a more significant purpose. Once you got out the magnifying glass and gave things a good study, there was little doubt. The toenail fungus that plagued you throughout your college days was definitely the result of poor hygiene. From the looks of it, you may have owned a single pair of socks and certainly no more than two. It was the perfect environment for sustained growth.

Now all you have to do is recapture the single pair of socks strategy, stop bathing for the next few weeks and sleep with your shoes on. You'll have a toenail fungus that will have doctors falling all over themselves for a chance to treat you. And, once they treat the toenail fungus, your cancer won't stand a chance...

Researchers at Johns Hopkins recently stumbled upon a surprising cancer treatment. Well, stumbled upon doesn't do justice to their exhaustive analysis of potential cancer treating agents. The scientists examined 2,400 existing drugs to determine which, if any, could stop cancer cells from dividing. The clear winner was Itraconazole, a medication used to treat common toenail fungus.

The drug actually inhibits the growth of new blood vessels, angiogenesis, a process necessary for cancer to spread. By inhibiting new blood vessels from developing, the cancer is deprived of the oxygen and nutrients it needs to survive.

The study looked at the impact of drugs on the blood of mice induced to exhibit excessive blood vessel growth. The mice treated with Itraconazole showed a 67% lower blood vessel growth rate than the placebo group.

Because the drug is already FDA approved for another use, it may receive fast track designation, allowing for a quicker review of its potential as a cancer drug. Scientists are also hopeful the treatment will be effective in its current oral form.

...You take a single step into the doctor's waiting room and the other patients begin to cough and gasp. Perfect - it's a sure sign your poor hygiene strategy is working its magic...

To read more about the study, see this from ScienceDaily. To read more about cancer and angiogenesis, see this from The Angiogenesis Foundation, or this from the National Cancer Institute.