Could a Cancer Drug Also Treat Alzheimer’s? Trials Are Testing It

(HealthDay News) — A new type of cancer drug might help treat brain diseases like Alzheimer’s, mouse studies suggest. The drugs block an enzyme called indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1), researchers reported. IDO1 inhibitors are being developed as a treatment for cancers like melanoma, leukemia and breast cancer, researchers said. The drugs fight cancer by blocking cancer cells’ ability to evade the immune system. But the drugs also might be able to treat the early stages of degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s, because the same enzyme has been implicated in problems with the way brain cells are fueled, researchers said. This treatment could be crucial as an estimated 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, and 1.1 million of them are Black Americans. How would this drug work to treat Alzheimer’s? “Inhibiting this enzyme, particularly with compounds that have been previously investigated in human clinical trials for cancer, could be a big step forward in finding ways to protect our brains from the damage caused by aging and neurodegeneration,” said senior researcher Dr. Katrin Andreasson, a professor of neurology and neurological sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The IDO1 enzyme breaks down tryptophan, the same molecule in turkey that can make...