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Posted by Ted Scharf BSc Phm on 12/24/2002 from 80.178.96.152:

Noscapine is used as a cough medicine in Europe and many countried worlwide. It is an opium derivative - a non-addictive one and not controlled by the DEA.

A few years ago it was discovered at Emory University that noscapine induces apoptosis in cancer cells i.e. kills cancer cells with little or no toxicity to normal cells.

Since noscapine has been on the market for 50 years, it is difficult to patent it. However, there is a process of patenting a drug for a new indication, and finally a couple of months ago, Emory Univeristy was granted the patent. Until a patent is granted, human studies cannot be published as that will invalidate the patent.

The following comes from the Walter Payton Cancer Research Fund which is sponsoring a trial at USC in Los Angeles.
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Phase I/II Study of Noscarpine for Patients with Low Grade Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma or Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Refractory to Chemotherapy
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Noscapine is a cough suppressant used widely throughout Europe. At higher doses, it has been shown to have anti-cancer activity in laboratory animals. Mice who were injected with human tumors had a significant shrinkage of their cancer after treatment with noscapine. Several anecdotal cases already exist of patients who have failed multiple standard chemotherapy agents and have responded to noscapine. At least one of the patients remains free of disease several years after taking noscapine.

Potential Patient Impact: Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma remains a difficult disease to cure; current treatments are highly toxic. Noscapine is a well-tolerated drug that may offer great potential for cure in patients who would otherwise die.
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The following trials were carried at at Harvard Medical School

Ghosh K., Wild R., Carson L.F., Twiggs L.B., and Ramakrishnan S. Noscapine, a novel agent that induces cytotoxicity and apoptosis in cervical cancer cells. (Manuscript in Preparation)


Ghosh K., Wild R., Carson L.F., Twiggs L.B., and Ramakrishnan S. Noscapine: a new drug with antitumor activity in ovarian cancer. (Manuscript in Preparation)

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The following published studies on animals are on medline. It seems to work in all the cancers in which it was tested - which are many.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9465062&dopt=Abstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10941904&dopt=Abstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12124349&dopt=Abstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12183452&dopt=Abstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11679575&dopt=Abstract

Follow Ups:

• Re: Noscapine - a futuristic non-toxic cancer therapy - Krishnakumar   1/7/2003 (0)

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