(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It appeared to be a promising potential treatment, but now a novel drug for brain tumors in children may have a darker side. New research reveals the drug causes permanent bone damage in mice.

In 2004, developmental biologist, Tom Curran, Ph.D., led a study on the drug HhAntag. HhAntag is a signal transduction inhibitor with the potential to interrupt the biological pathways that develop cancer. The new agent was tested in mice with medulloblastoma, the most common cancerous brain tumor in children. Researchers report the results were stunning. The drug caused the brain tumor to shrink and in some cases disappear.
 

In this latest research, however, the drug was tested in younger mice verses the adult mice in the first study. This revealed a terrible side effect. The younger mice suffered from bone damage including shorter bones than the untreated mice. Researchers say the drug permanently damaged the bones and bone growth.

“While it is not clear that the bone defects we observed in mice would also occur in children, and while signal transduction inhibitors may still represent a highly promising approach to treating pediatric cancer, it may be important to perform preclinical testing in young animals before moving ahead to clinical trials,” Dr. Curran was quoted as saying.

SOURCE: Cancer Cell, March 2008