Old antibiotic could kill skin cancer cells, say scientists

4 October 2018

Nifuroxazide is an oral antibiotic used to treat colitis and diarrhea that was first patented 52 years ago.

But it could be more than that, say scientists from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Institute for Genetics and Molecular Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Their study, published in the journal Cell Chemical Biology, suggests that nifuroxazide could selectively kill dangerous cells within melanomas, the deadliest type of skin cancer.

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