Viagra may have cancer prevention properties, clinical trials required, says study
Viagra (brand name of sildenafil citrate) that is used in erectile dysfunction, could prevent colorectal cancer.
The little blue pill can not just give you a good time in bed. It can also keep colorectal cancer at bay, if mice studies are anything to go by.
Viagra, the study found, cut in half the formation of polyps, an abnormal and often asymptomatic clump of cells on the lining of the intestines that may become cancer, said Darren D Browning, researcher at Augusta University in the US.
In an article in the Indian Journal of Surgical Oncology in December 2017, researchers audited colorectal cancer cases in Tata Memorial Hospital Mumbai and found: “Eight hundred new patients with CRC were seen in the colorectal clinic in one year. The mean age was 47.2 years. Sixty-five percent were males.” All India data however shows it is the third most common cancer in women and the fourth most common in men.
Viagra is best known for its ability to relax the smooth muscle cells around blood vessels so the vessels can more easily fill with blood, which is how it helps both erectile dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension.
To examine the efficacy of viagra in prevention of colorectal cancer the drug will have to be subjected to systematic clinical trials, especially in patients considered at high risk of colorectal cancer, such as those with a strong family history, multiple previous polyps and chronic intestinal inflammation like colitis.
The study was published in journal Cancer Prevention Research.
Viagra has been used safely for years in a wide range of doses and age groups, from premature infants with pulmonary hypertension to the elderly with erectile dysfunction, Browning said.
When placed in the drinking water, Browning’s team found that Viagra reduced polyps in a mouse model with a genetic mutation that occurs in humans, causing them to produce hundreds of polyps starting as teenagers and essentially always resulting in colorectal cancer.
“Giving a baby dose of Viagra can reduce the amount of tumours in these animals by half,” Browning said.
