What if a safe over-the-counter drug was able to treat and prevent cancer? Thanks to your support of the  Gift of Discovery, Dr Jean Marshall is testing just that!

Dr Marshall and her team in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at Dalhousie University are investigating the impact of over-the-counter stomach medications like Zantac and Pepcid AC on the immune response to tumours and the growth and development of breast, lung and pancreatic cancer.

“The immune system plays an important role in defending against cancer,” says Dr Marshall. “It can both reduce the incidence of initial tumour development and slow down or prevent cancer spread.”

These inexpensive, readily available, and safe drugs have already demonstrated significant results. The next step is a clinical trial to test the impact of these drugs on healthy human immune systems.

If all goes as planned, repurposing known drugs that are available for treatment could create a new, low-cost approach in the fight against cancer.

Thanks to you, researchers are testing new therapies that will save more lives.