Simple arthritis drugs used on the NHS could help stop breast cancer spreading, research suggests.

Axar.az reports citing London Economic that scientists propose that arthritis drugs anakinra, canakinumab, and sulfasalazine could be re-purposed to help block cancer reaching bones.

Research teams from the University of Manchester and the University of Sheffield discovered that a protein released by the bone marrow, called interleukin 1-beta encouraged breast cancer cells to form secondary tumors once they reach the bone.

Tests on mice found that this molecule can be blocked by drugs already used to treat arthritis.

Breast Cancer Now
The study, largely funded by charity Breast Cancer Now and published in the Nature Communications journal, revealed that anakinra was able to prevent breast cancer from forming secondary tumors in the bone.

Follow treatment with anakinra, only 14% of mice in the study developed secondary tumors in the bone, compared to 42% of control animals.

According to Breast Cancer Now, around 55,000 women and 370 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, making it the UK’s most common cancer.