Posted April 25, 2009
Researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center found that combining 8 ounces of grapefruit juice with the drug rapamycin can increase drug levels.
“Grapefruit juice can increase blood levels of certain drugs three to five times,” Dr. Ezra Cohen, director of the study, said in a statement.
“This has always been considered a hazard. We wanted to see if, and how much, it could amplify the availability, and perhaps the efficacy of rapamycin, a drug with promise for cancer treatment.”
Cohen’s study tracked 28 patients with advanced solid tumors, for which there is no effective treatment. The dose of the drug increased with each group of five patients, from 15 milligrams up to 35.
Twenty-five participants remained in the study long enough to be evaluated. Seven of those 25 had stable disease, with little or no tumor growth and one patient had a partial response, with the tumor shrinking by about 30 percent.
The study showed that substances known a furanocoumarins, plentiful in some forms of grapefruit juice, can decrease the breakdown of rapamycin. This makes the drug reach higher levels in the bloodstream, two to four times the levels seen without a juice boost, and thus increases the amount of the drug that reaches its targets, Cohen said.
The finding was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s 100th annual meeting in Denver.
April 22, 2009 URL: www.upi.com
