Rezulin May Act Against Cancer, Research Finds

A diabetes drug recently pulled from the market because of toxic liver effects may help in some cases of cancer and deserves further study, researchers said Saturday.

They said they had found troglitazone, made by Warner-Lambert under the name Rezulin, had surprising effects on a few prostate cancer patients.

“It’s intriguing,” Dr. Matthew Smith of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, who led the study, said in an interview.

Rezulin was pulled off the market in March after reports of 63 deaths due to liver troubles.

Smith told a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in New Orleans that eight out of 41 prostate cancer patients showed a measurable improvement when given Rezulin.

He measured this by looking at prostate specific antigen, or PSA, which is produced in excess by prostate cancer cells and which is a measure of prostate cancer severity.

One of the 41 patients saw his PSA levels plummet to nearly zero, while seven had a decrease of 50% or less. The other 33 had no response.

The patients had failed earlier treatments, so any response would be considered good.

The Food and Drug Administration has said it pulled Rezulin because there were safer drugs available to treat adult-onset diabetes.