Combination of drugs to terminate prostate cancer

London, Apr 15 (UNI) Scientists found that two drugs used to treat cholesterol and arthritis can halt the progress of prostate cancer.

A combination of Celebrex, an anti-inflammatory drug, and the statin Lipitor kept the cancer in its less aggressive early stage in tests on mice.

Dr Allan Conney of Rutgers University in New Jersey, which carried out the research, said, ''This is something we hope is going to save lives. If clinical trials go well, we could have something available in five years.'' ''If the trials show that the drug therapy does a good job of preventing the cancer from advancing, we won't need to worry about how to handle the more aggressive later stage cancer,'' he added.

Professor Xi Zheng said low doses of Lipitor and Celebrex had a ''potent inhibiting effect on the formation of later-stage tumours''.

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