A HEARTBEAT AWAY FROM PREVENTING CANCER?

摘要

Cancer researchers dream of coming up with a drug as safe and effective in fighting tumors as statins are against heart disease. These cholesterol-lowering drugs, the world's best-selling medicines, are among the pharmaceutical industry's brightest success stories. As statins gained popularity in the 1990s, rates of atherosclerosis, heart attacks, and death from heart disease all declined. During the same period, deaths from cancer crept up―and new cancer drugs were few and far between. The drugs that have won approval do little more than hold the disease at bay for a few months or years. There is, however, a growing body of evidence indicating that statins may be able to do for cancer what they've done for heart disease. Several recent studies have found that statins such as Merck & Co.'s Zocor and Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor may be able to prevent cancers of the skin, breast, and pancreas from developing in the first place.