Study Shows Antabuse Lowers Risk of Death from Cancer

A nationwide epidemiological study has shown cancer patients who continuously used disulfiram (Antabuse), a drug prescribed to alcoholics to prevent them from drinking, have a lower risk of death from cancer compared to those who stopped using the drug once diagnosed. In addition, the study’s researchers identified the ditiocarb-copper complex as the metabolite of disulfiram responsible for its anticancer effects.

In the study, researchers observed the drug’s effect on both living mice and on human cancer cells and noted that when the drug is metabolized, it causes the protein NPL4 to clump together with the enzyme P97, which immobilizes the protein and freezes cancer cells, thus preventing them from disposing of unnecessary proteins. This buildup stresses the cancer cells and eventually causes them to die. Moreover, results were even more pronounced when disulfiram was combined with copper, and the drug did not discriminate when it came to what type of cancer cells it killed. In fact, it was just as effective in killing prostate, breast and colon cancer. And, only cancer cells were affected, while normal cells seemed to be unharmed.

This is the first study to suggest a biological explanation for this side effect of disulfiram. However, Matthew Galsky, MD, an oncologist and professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said it’s too soon to consider this as a cancer cure because it is still unknown if the doses used to achieve these results in the laboratory can be safe and effective in human patients. “Unfortunately, we want advances quick when we are treating cancer because this is a devastating disease, and repurposing drugs does shorten this time,” said Dr. Galsky. “Still, we need to do a careful investigation in the clinic to make sure that it’s safe to give adequate doses.”