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A CHEAP drug that’s already on the market could be effective against deadly brain tumours, scientists say.

Glioblastomas are aggressive and fast-growing brain tumours affecting around 3,200 Brits a year that currently have no cure.

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Patients’ life expectancy can be extended through operations, radiation or chemotherapy, but people only tend to live 12 to 18 months after being diagnosed with the cancer.

Only a fourth of glioblastoma patients survive more than a year after their diagnosis, The Brain Tumour Charity says.

Finding drugs that can combat brain tumours effectively is difficult, as many cancer drugs often can’t cross the blood-brain barrier.

This is tightly-locked layer of cells that line blood vessels in the brain, which filters out germs and harmful substances that could cause damage to the organ.

As a result, many drugs aren’t able to bypass this protective layer to reach the brain and eliminate tumours.

However, antidepressants can sneak through the barrier to get to the brain.

Researchers at ETH Zurich zeroed in an inexpensive antidepressant that’s already on the market, called vortioxetine.

In the UK, it’s known by the name Brintellix or Lundbeck, as it recommended for adults in a major depressive episode that hasn’t been eased by two other antidepressants.

Scientists used a special screening platform developed at the university that tests how active substances effects living cells from human cancer tissue, with the help of imaging techniques and computer analysis.

Their study – published in Nature Medicine – focused on neuroactive substances that cross the blood-brain barrier, such as antidepressants, Parkinson’s medication and antipsychotics.

In total, the research team tested up to 130 different drugs on tumour tissue from 40 cancer patients who had recently undergone surgery at the University Hospital Zurich.

Some, but not all, of the antidepressants tested were unexpectedly effective against the tumour cells – and vortioxetine proved to be the most effective.

Researchers at the University Hospital Zurich also tested vortioxetine on mice with a glioblastoma.

The drug also showed “good efficacy” these trials, especially in combination with the current standard treatments for glioblastoma – which include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation.

Professor Berend Snijder, who led the study, said: “We started with this terrible tumour and found existing drugs that fight against it.

“We show how and why they work, and soon we’ll be able to test them on patients.” 

Co-author Michael Weller, a professor and director of the Department of Neurologyat the University Hospital Zurich, said: “The advantage of vortioxetine is that it is safe and very cost-effective.

“As the drug has already been approved, it doesn’t have to undergo a complex approval procedure and could soon supplement the standard therapy for this deadly brain tumour.”

He hopes that oncologists will be able to use it soon to treat cancer.

But he stressed that cancer patients and their relatives shouldn’t obtain vortioxetine themselves and take it without the supervision of their doctor – so far, its effect on cancer has only been tested on cells and mice.

“We don’t yet know whether the drug works in humans and what dose is required to combat the tumour, which is why clinical trials are necessary,” Prof Weller said.

“Self-medicating would be an incalculable risk.”

The research team is is now preparing two new clinical trials.

In one, glioblastoma patients will be treated with vortioxetine alongside standard treatments.

In the second, patients will receive a personalised drug selection, which the researchers will determine using the pharmacoscopy platform.

Should vortioxetine prove effective in humans, this will be the first time in recent decades that an active substance has been found to improve the treatment of glioblastoma, researchers said.

AGGIE BEEVER-JONES reckons Sonia Bompastor will add “some spice” to the WSL title fight as she eyes a winning start in England’s top tier.

Tonight is the start of a new era for the Blues, with their France-born head coach, 44, going into her first Women’s Super League contest.

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A rejuvenated Aston Villa, with new gaffer Robert de Pauw, are first to pit their wits against a team chasing a sixth successive title.

A side that now boasts some of the most formidable forwards in Europe, including Beever-Jones, Mayra Ramirez and star striker Sam Kerr.

Beever-Jones said: “That’s one of the great things about Chelsea.

“Our squad is big and every single player is good enough to start a game and live up to the Chelsea standard.

“I’ve always seen the competition as a good thing and I’m always learning and watching other people.

“From Mayra, to Sam, to me, to Mia (Fishel) to Cat (Macario) – we’re all very different players.

“We all kind of have our own uniqueness to us which makes us different.

“You can pick up a few things from other players and you want to impress.

“Hopefully I’m doing that and making Sonia happy.”

Last term saw Kerr sidelined at the halfway stage of the season after sustaining an ACL injury at a Blues training camp in January.

The absence of the Australia star prompted the club’s January swoop for Colombia striker Ramirez.

And Beever-Jones says she’s ready to cheer Kerr to the rafters should she find the back of the net for the hundredth time for the Blues when fit.

Beever-Jones added: “We had a goal competition at the start of last season and then unfortunately Sam’s injury happened.

“But after every game I played in she’d come up to me to say ‘congrats’

“She’s one of my biggest supporters and when she (comes back and) scores her 100^th goal, I’ll probably be running up to her and screaming for her, given how hard she’s worked.

“I’ll be delighted as will all the other girls in the team.

“For me, the competition within the team is good. You’ve got to play better, but I’m excited for it.”

Having been a Champions League winner as a Lyon player and manager, Bompastor is determined to guide Chelsea to European glory for the first time in their existence.

And Beever-Jones believes her boss can add “a little spice” to the title-holders’ battle for more silverware.

The striker, who scored 11 goals in 17 WSL games last term, added: “Chelsea has been so successful for so many years and Sonia is adding her own uniqueness to our style of play.

“It’s just adding her little bit of spice to the Chelsea way.

“And when the season starts and we’re in the four competitions again it will be challenging to see how the tactics play out.

“But we’re in such safe hands and we’ve got a great team of players.

When asked what fans watching can expect from her side, Chelsea chief Bompastor said: “They will see a team that is really competitive.

“One that’s enjoying playing together at the highest level.

“The most important thing is getting results.

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“We want to win, to start the league strongly and to be efficient as a team scoring goals whilst being defensively very strong.

“I hope we’ll be able to show a good football style, but for me that’s not the priority.

“The result is what’s really important. But if we can have both, I will be very happy.”

Chelsea’s WSL season-opening game against Aston Villa can be watched live from 7:00pm tonight on BBC 2

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A FORMER Hollyoaks sex symbol has barely aged a day 20 years after quitting the soap.

Elize du Toit shot to fame in 2000 as Izzy Davies in Hollyoaks and stayed in the role until 2004.

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She made a brief return in 2007 but has been absent from the show since then.

And Elize, 44, looks exactly the same as she did during her time on the Channel 4 show.

Most recently she wrote and directed short film Lilias Adie and appeared in a video on YouTube to speak about the project.

During her time as a soap star Elize posed for a number of sexy shoots, flaunting her figure in swimwear and risque outfits.

After Hollyoaks Elize went on to star in shows including Casualty and Waterloo Road.

She landed a part in the James Bond film Skyfall in 2012, playing the assistant of Judi Dench‘s character M.

In 2008 Elize started dating actor Hollywood actor Rafe Spall and the couple got married in 2010.

She and Rafe, 41, share three children but split in 2021.

This week we revealed another former Hollyoaks pin-up who looks completely different to her days on the show.

Natasha Symms played Kate Patrick in the soap 25 years ago has swapped her brunette hair for a blonde ‘do.

She’s still in the industry and now also runs an acting school catering to all ages from two-year-olds through to pensioners.

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