Ecstasy could help to fight cancer

THE dance-club drug Ecstasy is being developed as a potential cancer treatment.

Modified forms of it may be effective against blood cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma, early research has suggested.

Six years ago, scientists discovered that cancers affecting white blood cells appeared to respond to certain “psychotropic” drugs. These included weight loss pills, Prozac-type antidepressants, and amphetamine derivatives such as MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy.

Now the same team at Birmingham University has revealed specially modified forms of Ecstasy boosted the drug’s ability to destroy cancerous cells 100 times.

Further work could lead to MDMA-derivatives being used in patient trials. Professor John Gordon, from the university’s school of immunology and infection, said: “This is an exciting next step towards using a modified form of MDMA to help people suffering from blood cancer.

“While we would not wish to give people false hope, the results of this research hold the potential for improvements in treatments in years to come.”