Diagnostic tools and innovative therapies improve patient...(stacyclin is similar to a natural chemic...),Health

Recent studies show that most patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have decreased levels of prostacyclin and demonstrate that prostacyclin supplementation with oral iloprost can prevent the development of lung cancer in mice exposed to cigarette smoke.

Based on the promising results of past research, a multi-centered, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II trial of iloprost in subjects at increased risk for lung cancer was conducted. One-hundred fifty-two current or former smokers with an abnormal sputum cytology, at least a 20-year history of smoking a pack of cigarettes per day, and smoking-related damage in the central airways participated in fluorescent and white light bronchoscopies with biopsies taken at six different standard sites. Subjects were then randomized to receive oral iloprost or placebo for six months. A second bronchoscopy and repeat biopsies were completed at the end of the treatment period.

All biopsies were scored on a 1-8 scale based on World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Histology measures were assessed according to the worst biopsy score, average biopsy score and dysplasia index. After conducting the follow-up bronchoscopies, former smokers who received iloprost showed significantly greater improvement in all the histology measures compared to those who received placebo. Iloprost did not have a significant effect on participants who continued to smoke throughout the trial.

"These promising findings show that oral iloprost has the potential to help prevent lung cancer and improve endobronchial dysplasia in former smokers," says Robert Keith, M.D., lead author and associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "More research is
'/>"/>