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BMC Medicine
Published in: BMC Medicine 1/2013

Open Access 01-12-2013 | Commentary

Potential repurposing of oncology drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Author: Wataru Araki

Published in: BMC Medicine | Issue 1/2013

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Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of neurodegenerative dementia, affecting about 30 million people worldwide. Despite recent advances in understanding its molecular pathology, no mechanism-based drugs are currently available that can halt the progression of AD. Because amyloid-β-peptide (Aβ), a primary component of senile plaques, is thought to be a central pathogenic culprit, several disease-modifying therapies are being developed, including inhibitors of Aβ-producing proteases and immunotherapies with anti-Aβ antibodies. Drug repositioning or repurposing is regarded as a complementary and reasonable approach to identify new drug candidates for AD. This commentary will discuss the clinical relevance of an attractive candidate compound reported in a recent paper by Hayes et al. (BMC Medicine 2013) as well as perspectives regarding the possible repositioning of oncology drugs for the treatment of AD.
See related research article here http://​www.​biomedcentral.​com/​1741-7015/​11/​81
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Metadata
Title
Potential repurposing of oncology drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease
Author
Wataru Araki
Publication date
01-12-2013
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Medicine / Issue 1/2013
Electronic ISSN: 1741-7015
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-11-82

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