JAK inhibitors show promise for treating stomach and bowel cancer

Stomach and bowel cancer, two of the most common cancers worldwide, could be treated with a class of medicines that are currently used to treat a blood disorder, a Melbourne research team has discovered.

The finding, in preclinical models, that medicines called “JAK inhibitors” reduce the growth of inflammation-associated stomach and bowel cancer provides the first evidence supporting their use in treating these cancers.

JAK inhibitors are currently used to treat the cancer-like condition myelofibrosis, and are being investigated in clinical trials for the treatment of conditions including leukaemia, lymphoma, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.