Common asthma drug may help treat hard-to-cure cancers: Study

Study Finds New Use for Asthma Medicine

A new study suggests that an asthma drug called montelukast may help fight difficult cancers, including triple-negative breast cancer.

Researchers found that some cancers can trick immune cells, called neutrophils, into helping tumors grow instead of fighting them. These immune cells normally protect the body by attacking cancer and helping other immune cells work better.

However, scientists say tumors can change these cells and create an environment that helps cancer survive and resist treatment.

Drug Could Improve Cancer Treatment

Montelukast, which is widely used to treat asthma and allergies, blocks a protein called CysLTR1. Researchers believe blocking this protein may help turn immune cells back into cancer fighters.

Dr. Bin Zhang, a cancer expert at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said the drug could help tumors respond better to immunotherapy — a treatment that uses the body’s immune system to fight cancer.

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More Research Still Needed

Immunotherapy has helped many cancer patients, but some people do not respond to the treatment. Researchers believe this discovery could lead to new and lower-cost treatment options because montelukast is already an approved medicine.

The study was published in the journal Nature Cancer on May 19. Scientists say more studies are needed before the drug can be used as a regular cancer treatment.