Rheumatoid arthritis medicine may help people suffering from cancer

Scientists of the University of East Anglia have found that leflunomide (a drug from rheumatoid arthritis) may increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Leflunomide in combination with a chemotherapeutic drug, selumethinib, has inhibited a tumor growth in mice with melanoma, Zee News reports.

In the course of laboratory experiments, the scientists have established that leflunomide combated melanoma successfully (regardless of its genetic characteristics). So, the drug can be used not only to treat tumors with BRAF gene mutation. The experiments on tumor cells have shown that the combination of leflunomide and selumethinibom was the most effective.

According to the researchers, such combination has almost completely stopped the tumor growth in mice for 12 days. The individual effect of each of these drugs was much more slowly.

Source: Zee News.