Health
Aging slowdown could be surprise benefit of existing medication, research shows
A drug used to prevent organ rejection in kidney transplant patients is being touted for potentially slowing down aging.
The immune-suppressing medication rapamycin, also known as sirolimus, is being used off-label as a means of extending longevity.
“By targeting a key pathway (mTOR) in cells, this drug has been shown to extend lifespan in animals and could be beneficial to prevent age-related diseases in humans,” Dr. Andrea B. Maier — a professor in healthy aging and dementia research at the Director of the Centre for Healthy Longevity at the National University of Singapore — told Fox News Digital.
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Maier was co-author of a recent review study that explored how rapamycin affected healthy humans.
A drug used to prevent organ rejection in kidney transplant patients is being touted for potentially slowing down aging. (iStock)
The review, which was published in the journal Lancet Healthy Longevity, found that the medication improved the effects of aging on the skin.
“Rapamycin and its derivatives improve the immune and cardiovascular function of healthy individuals or individuals with aging-related diseases,” Maier said in an email.
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Daniel Tawfik, a molecular biologist and co-founder of Healthspan, a digital medical clinic that focuses on anti-aging and longevity-promoting therapies, said his team uses rapamycin to help slow down the rate of aging.
“We view this through the lens of reducing the accumulation of damaged senescent cells,” Tawfik, who is based in Santa Monica, California, told Fox News Digital.
The immune-suppressing medication rapamycin is being used off-label as a means of extending longevity. (iStock)
Senescent cells are cells that no longer function properly, but linger in the body and can contribute to tissue deterioration and inflammation, the expert said.
“By lowering the rate at which healthy cells transform into senescent cells, rapamycin can slow the aging process at the tissue level, helping to preserve organ function and overall health as we age,” he added.
Off-label use
In the U.S., rapamycin is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its immune-suppressing properties in patients with kidney transplants and certain cancers.
It is not approved for use as an age-defying drug.
“Sirolimus (rapamycin) has not been evaluated by the FDA for safety and effectiveness as an anti-aging treatment,” a press officer for the FDA confirmed to Fox News Digital.
“Rapamycin can slow the aging process at the tissue level, helping to preserve organ function and overall health.”
Despite this, rapamycin is being used “off-label” for anti-aging purposes, according to Elaena Quattrocchi, a registered pharmacist and an associate professor at Long Island University College of Pharmacy in Brooklyn, New York.
“Off-label means the FDA has not approved the drug for this use,” she told Fox News Digital.
Rapamycin, which is also known as Sirolimus, is being used “off-label” for anti-aging purposes, experts say. (iStock)
When prescribing a drug for off-label use, the provider must explain to the patient that the medication has not been approved for the indication for which they are prescribing it, Quattrocchi noted.
“People taking this medication must discuss with their primary care provider and pharmacist about the potential side effects and drug interactions,” she said.
Benefits of rapamycin
Tawfik’s company currently treats more than 3,500 patients with rapamycin, he told Fox News Digital.
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His team has seen numerous benefits of its off-label anti-aging use, he said, including improved cellular health, reduced risk of age-related diseases and the potential for enhanced longevity.
“Under proper medical supervision, many of our patients experience a marked reduction in inflammation and improvement in conditions related to autoimmunity,” Tawfik said.
When prescribing a drug for off-label use, the provider should explain to the patient that the medication has not been approved for the indication for which they are prescribing it, according to experts. (iStock)
“For example, patients with osteoarthritis often report significant relief from joint pain after starting rapamycin.”
The expert also noted that certain biomarkers linked to healthspan and longevity — such as reduced inflammation markers and enhanced metabolic health — were seen in the bloodwork of the patients using rapamycin.
Screening and safety
Patients need a prescription for rapamycin, experts told Fox News Digital.
Individuals are screened to determine whether they are candidates for the treatment. If it is prescribed, patients are monitored carefully when taking the drug.
“It is essential that rapamycin use is overseen by a physician.”
“It is essential that rapamycin use is overseen by a physician to ensure that dosing is effective yet safe, as high doses can lead to unwanted immunosuppression,” Tawfik warned.
Maier echoed that rapamycin and its derivatives are not for self-medication use.
“An important step is to first measure the patient’s biological age and investigate why the pace of aging might be faster,” she told Fox News Digital.
“Then a tailored approach to match the measures with interventions at need is required.”
Quattrocchi and Tawfik both emphasized the importance of working with an accredited pharmacy that sources the drug directly from a reputable manufacturer.
Rapamycin and its derivatives are not for self-medication use, experts cautioned. (iStock)
Rapamycin is not recommended for immunocompromised individuals or those taking immunosuppressant medication, Tawfik cautioned.
It is not typically used in younger adults, he added, since starting this regimen at such an early age is unnecessary.
Calls for more research
There are limited studies on the effects of rapamycin on humans and organ systems, Maier noted.
In researching studies of the drug, Maier’s research team found that adverse reactions in healthy individuals were classified “as mild or moderate and were reversible after the discontinuation of treatment.”
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However, the study authors stated, “there were increased numbers of infections and increases in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides in individuals with aging-related diseases.”
“Future studies should assess the remaining unexamined systems and test the effects of long-term exposure to rapamycin and its derivatives.”
Experts have reported numerous anti-aging benefits of rapamycin, including improved cellular health, reduced risk of age-related diseases and the potential for enhanced longevity. (iStock)
The majority of studies exploring rapamycin’s effects on aging have been conducted on mice and other animals as well as experimental models, researchers told Fox News Digital.
“The reason scientists are so interested in rapamycin is that in every species that’s been studied to date – yeast, worms, flies, mice – when they are given rapamycin, healthspan and lifespan are extended,” Tawfik noted.
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“No other intervention has that degree of validation.”
Quattrocchi agreed that further research is needed into the drug’s proper dosing, adverse effects, and potential anti-aging benefits in healthy individuals and those with medical conditions.
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A new injectable therapy is showing positive results in reducing melanoma throughout a five-year period.
The personalized mRNA cancer therapy, called intismeran autogene, combined with the cancer immunotherapy drug KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), is a collaboration between Merck and Moderna.
The results from the phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 27.
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After about a five-year follow-up, the combo drug was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone.
The researchers analyzed data from 157 patients with high-risk stage 3 and 4 melanoma whose cancer had been removed via surgery. The participants were split into two groups — one received the combo therapy and the other only received pembrolizumab, according to a press release.
The therapy was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone after a five-year follow-up. (iStock)
The findings revealed that the combination group saw benefits that were “sustained and durable over time.”
Intismeran autogene is designed using mutations identified in a patient’s own tumor, with the intention of teaching the immune system what the cancer looks like so that it can recognize and attack it.
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According to the researchers, intismeran is “well-tolerated” with a “manageable” safety profile.
The most commonly cited side effects of the personalized mRNA vaccine plus KEYTRUDA were fatigue, injection-site pain, chills, fever and headache. The researchers reported no new long-term safety concerns and no severe vaccine-related adverse events.
The combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study — the final confirmation stage.
Patients with late-stage melanoma have a “significant risk” of cancer recurrence, according to an expert. (iStock)
In a Merck press release from January, Kyle Holen, MD, Moderna’s senior vice president and head of development, oncology and therapeutics, noted that this data highlights the “potential of a prolonged benefit … in patients with resected high-risk melanoma.”
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“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care,” he said.
Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology, global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, also commented that for many patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma, there is a “significant risk of recurrence following surgery.”
Researchers confirmed that the combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study. (iStock)
“As such, demonstrating the longer-term potential of intismeran autogene and KEYTRUDA to reduce the risk of recurrence for certain patients with melanoma is a meaningful milestone,” she said.
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The company cited encouraging five-year follow-up data and pointed to upcoming late-stage INTerpath trial results with Moderna in several hard-to-treat cancers.
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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