The experimental compound cyclopamine was previously known to shut down a critical cell-signaling pathway (Hedgehog) in the most common and aggressive type of adult brain cancer: glioblastoma multiforme.
Now, according to Johns Hopkins scientists, cyclopamine have been able to successfully kill cancer stem cells thought to fuel tumor growth and help cancers evade drug and radiation therapy.
According to Charles G. Eberhart, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology, ophthalmology and oncology, who led the work:
“Our study lends evidence to the idea that the lack of effective therapies for glioblastoma may be due to the survival of a rare population of cancer stem …read more

Lovastatin (trade name: Mevacor) is a cholesterol lowering drug while cyclopamine is a cancer drug.
Cyclopamine works by blocking the so-called “hedgehog” pathway, long known to promote and guide cell and organ growth while lovastatin (aside from cholesterol-clogging effects) is known to curb destruction of proteins that put the brakes on cell growth, causing cancer cells to self-destruct through a process called apoptosis.
The unlikely pair of these two compounds has been found by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center to dramatically kill brain cancer cells.
Once the hedgehog is blocked by cyclopamine, the cancer cells become more susceptible to lovastatin.
The …read more