Cancer Drug Gleevec Might Slow Type-1 Diabetes
JUN 12 2017, 9:37 PM ET
by MAGGIE FOX
Gleevec, the daily pill that turned a killer type of leukemia into a manageable disease, may also help slow the worsening of diabetes, researchers reported Monday.
In a follow up to a 2008 study in which diabetic mice were cured by the drug, a team reports “modest” effects in adults with type-1 diabetes. This is the type of diabetes often called juvenile diabetes and it’s caused when the immune system mistakenly destroys insulin-producing cells called beta cells.
Tests done in 67 adults with type-1 diabetes showed the drug appeared to boost their body's own production of insulin, Dr. Stephen Gitelman of the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine told a meeting of the American Diabetes Association.
“On average the people that got the medicine used less insulin,” Gitelman told NBC News.
More:
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cancer-drug-gleevec-might-slow-type-1-diabetes-n771241
