Scientists at UC San Francisco and Gladstone Institutes have identified two cancer medications that may reverse the changes in the brain that occur during Alzheimer’s disease, potentially slowing or reversing its symptoms.
A study comparing gene expression signatures of Alzheimer’s disease with those from 1,300 approved drugs found a combination of letrozole and irinotecan to be effective. These medications were tested in a mouse model of aggressive Alzheimer’s disease, where they reversed multiple aspects of the disease, including brain degeneration and restored memory.
The researchers used publicly available data from three studies of the Alzheimer’s brain and compared them with results from testing thousands of drugs on gene expression in human cells. They found that 10 out of 1,300 approved drugs seemed to have reduced the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease over time.
The team believes that their computational approach led to a potential combination therapy for Alzheimer’s based on existing FDA-approved medications. The study’s findings suggest that this therapy may be effective in slowing or reversing Alzheimer’s symptoms, offering hope for millions of patients with the disease.
Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-scientists-cancer-drugs-reverse-brain.html