I recently attended a medical conference where very interesting information was presented. Preliminary studies from John Hopkins suggested that erectile dysfunction drugs (e.g. Cialis, Viagra) can stimulate the immune systems of patient�s with head and necks cancers so they can better battle cancer cells. This is interesting information because it is a new approach of treatment with agents so far not used to treat cancer.

Studies performed so far are only test tube ones done in blood samples collected from patients. Although the results are promising clinical studies are needed to evaluate if the administration of erectile dysfunction drugs can be helpful in treating head and neck cancers.

I want to caution that these results are very preliminary and more research is needed. However, they offer hope for new type of treatment in the future.

Itzhak Brook MD