Lung Cancer Drug Could Aid Plight of Patients With Ectopic Pregnancy

A study suggests that women with ectopic pregnancies could be spared surgery if they are treated with a lung cancer drug.

Researchers treated ectopic pregnancies – where an embryo implants inside the Fallopian tube – by combining an existing treatment with a lung cancer therapy.

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Lung cancer is a malignant tumor in the lung tissues. Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer with symptoms like recurrent respiratory diseases.

They found that prescribing both drugs together was more effective at helping cure an ectopic pregnancy than the conventional drug alone.

The lung cancer drug – called gefitinib – helps by blocking a protein that is known to encourage cell growth, and which was found to be present in high levels at the site of ectopic pregnancies.

Combining gefitinib with the conventional treatment, which is called methotrexate, could reduce the need to remove the Fallopian tube in a significant number of cases. This would help the patient's level of fertility - say researchers led by Dr Andrew Horne at the University of Edinburgh and Dr Stephen Tong at the University in Melbourne.

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Lung cancer accounts for nearly 1.3 million deaths annually worldwide. Lung cancer screening can help in early detection of cancer and possible cure.

Ectopic pregnancy can be treated with drugs in the early stages of development, but surgery is needed when it is more developed.

Researchers also found that the drug combination was able to shorten the time it took to successfully treat ectopic pregnancies in women who did not need surgery.

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The procedure by which tissue samples are obtained from the lung is known as lung biopsy. The biopsy tissues obtained from the lungs are examined by a pathologist.

Dr Andrew Horne, of the University of Edinburgh's Medical Research Council Centre for Reproductive Health, said: "An ectopic pregnancy can be extremely stressful for the woman involved. If we can reduce the need for surgery, and thereby help fertility levels, then that would be an enormous benefit. Reducing the treatment time for women who do not need surgery would also have a significant impact in reducing the emotional stress of such a diagnosis."

Source-Eurekalert