Abortion Pill May Help Treat Rare Tumor
The controversial abortion pill RU 486, which is sold in France and China but not the United States, may prove effective in treating a rare tumor of the brain and spinal cord, according to preliminary findings to be made public today.
The results, to be presented by USC researchers at a meeting of neurological surgeons in Tucson, raise the possibility that the drug could eventually be approved for U.S. use, not to terminate pregnancies but to control tumor growth.
“Our study has nothing to do with abortion, “ said Dr. Steven Grunberg, the USC oncologist who headed the study. “The drug happens to have the hormonal effect that we’re looking for to try to treat this tumor.”
The abortion pill, which can be taken up to five weeks after conception, is viewed as a revolutionary step in fertility control: It promises a safer, easier and more private abortion than the traditional surgical approach, advocates as well as critics acknowledge.
But intense opposition by groups opposed to abortion prompted the drug’s manufacturer, Roussel Uclaf, to suspend distribution in France last October shortly after it was approved for sale. The company resumed distribution later that month on orders from the French government.
No pharmaceutical company has applied for permission to market RU 486 in the United States. Opponents of abortion have vowed to organize a consumer boycott of all the products of any U.S. drug firm that tries to distribute the pill.
On Wednesday, the French researcher who developed the pill, Etienne-Emile Baulieu, was awarded the Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award, one of six prestigious prizes given annually by the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation.
Inoperable Tumor
Baulieu predicted that the award would help make the drug more widely available.
According to Grunberg, his research group gave the pill to 14 men and women with an inoperable meningioma--a tumor, usually benign, of the covering of the brain and spinal cord. The slow-growing tumor causes symptoms ranging from headaches to impaired mental functioning.
In four patients, the tumor shrank about 10%, Grunberg said. In six, it remained stable. Two others were referred out of the study for chemotherapy after their tumor proved malignant. One other patient’s tumor grew, and one dropped out of the study for personal reasons.
“We’re very excited and encouraged because we feel that four of the 14 have shown a response,” Grunberg said in an interview. He said the shrinkage was small but “in the skull, even a few millimeters can make the difference between a major neurologic problem or not.”
Rare Disease
Meningiomas are rare: About one new case per every 100,000 population is diagnosed each year. The tumor expands slowly and the usual treatment is surgery, but in some cases the tumor is located in a place that makes it dangerous to operate.
Grunberg stressed that further studies in larger numbers of patients are needed to confirm his findings. He was scheduled to present his results today at the annual scientific meeting of the National Academy of Neurological Surgeons.
RU 486, also known as mifepristone, is a synthetic steroid with a chemical structure resembling that of the hormone progesterone. By attaching itself to progesterone receptors in the body, it effectively blocks the action of real progesterone.
The growth of meningiomas appears to be influenced by hormones. The tumors are three times as common in women as men, and they increase during pregnancy. Furthermore, scientists have identified progesterone receptors on the surface of meningioma tumor cells.
As an abortion pill, RU 486 brings on a woman’s menstrual period by blocking the action of progesterone. Progesterone helps thicken the lining of the uterus so a fertilized egg can become implanted and develop.
RESEARCHER LAUDED--America’s most prestigious medical award has been bestowed upon the developer of RU 486. Page 37
