An experimental cancer drug could help prevent organ damage associated with COVID-19 The drug suppresses immune cells that tend to overreact in response to COVID infection In mice and human tissue, the drug helped prevent damage MONDAY, July 8, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental cancer drug might be able to help prevent the organ damage caused by severe infections, a new study finds. The drug, called eganelisib, inhibits an immune system enzyme called PI3K gamma that boosts damaging inflammation in cancerous tumors. But lab studies in mice and human tissue showed that eganelisib could also be effective in suppressing organ-damaging inflammation caused by COVID, according to findings published July 3 in the journal COVID is mainly known as a lung disease, but severe cases are known to damage the heart, gastrointestinal system, kidneys, brain and nervous system.
This damage contributes to Long COVID -- a debiltating condition where symptoms that last months and years beyond the initial infection. The P13K gamma enzyme causes a type of white blood cell called myeloid cells to flood tumor tissue, creating inflammation that worsens cancer, researchers said. Myeloid cells are meant to work quickly to kill potentially deadly bacteria and viruses, including the coronavirus behind COVID, researchers said.
Unfortunately, they can do a lot of damage if the immune system overreacts to a severe infection, said senior researcher , a professor of pathology and medicine at the Universi.
