Acetazolamide increased sensitivity to treatment and enhanced survival in mice
A drug used to treat altitude sickness — as well as glaucoma, epilepsy, heart failure and seizures — may also offer significant gains for patients with a fast-growing brain tumor known as glioblastoma, according to a study.
The drug, acetazolamide, sold under the trade name Diamox, is “cheap to make, easy to take and has limited side effects,” said study director Bahktiar Yamini, MD, a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Chicago Medicine.
“I take it myself, whenever I go to the Rocky Mountains,” he said, “two pills a day.” The most common side effect of Diamox is “a metallic taste when drinking something carbonated.”
The most frequently used chemotherapy for gliomas is a drug called temozolomide (TMZ). However, not all patients respond to this drug. Median survival with this disease is about 14 months.
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AANS Neurosurgeon is the official socioeconomic publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and features information and analysis for contemporary neurosurgical practice. Published monthly online, AANS Neurosurgeon focuses on issues related to neurosurgery legislation, the workforce and practice management.
