Cancer drug wins baldness

Scientists at Columbia University have successfully used a drug that was intended for the treatment of bone marrow cancer, for the treatment of alopecia areata.

This disease is autoimmune and causes baldness by destroying the immune cells of the hair follicles. For humans it is normal to lose about 50 hairs a day, especially because in the place of fallen grow new hair. Alopecia is characterized by the excess of the number of lost hair in relation to the number of grown.

In the University Medical center study was conducted, during which scientists have identified immune cells in the human body, leading to baldness. Scientists have suggested that the drug class selective blockers of enzymes, Janus kinases are effective in the treatment of this autoimmune disease.

To test their hypothesis, they decided to test on mice with alopecia, two drugs recently approved by the Commission for the control of drugs and nutrients by the FDA. Rukolaine (ruxolitinib) for the treatment of bone marrow cancer, and tofacitinib (tofacitinib) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has demonstrated its effectiveness in a full recovery of hair throughout 12 weeks.

After successful experiments on animals rukolaine under the trade naimenovanie Jakafi or Jakavi Novartis was tested on three patients with more than a third of the lost hair due to alopecia areata. After 4-5 months of receiving Roksolana twice a day all the participants of the experiment recorded the complete restoration of the scalp, without any significant side effects!

Source: globalscience.ru