A promising study has shown that combining two existing cancer drugs can not only extend the lives of mice but also help them age more healthily.
In recent decades humans have been obsessed with longevity. Now, scientists from the Max Planck Institute in Germany are onto it with visionary results.
The researchers brought about a combination of two existing cancer drugs, which they found extended the lifespan of mice by 35%.
The treatment didn’t just prolong life expectancy, but also improved late-life health, reducing frailty and chronic illness.
Combo versus solo effect
The drugs tested were rapamycin and trametinib, both already approved for human use.
Mice were given the drugs individually and in combination, starting out at six months of age, which is early adulthood for mice.
The study monitored not only lifespan, but also tumor growth, organ inflammation, heart function, and activity levels.
The goal was to see whether combining the drugs would boost results without compounding side effects.
Measured lifespan gains
The findings were that rapamycin alone extended lifespan by 17-18%, while trametinib did so by 7-16%.
However, when added together, the combined treatment yielded the biggest gain of 27-35% in lifespan.
The health effects were plentiful – most notably a delayed onset of liver and spleen tumors, and reduced inflammation of brain, kidney, spleen, and muscle tissue.
That’s not forgetting better mobility and heart function in old age, but also reduced body weight, which is linked to healthier aging in mice.
Implications for aging
While these results won’t translate seamlessly to humans – the goal remains the same, and that’s to boost our lifespan.
Still, it’s not as simple as taking the medication and expecting to live a few decades longer. The state of well-being is the most important driver, as lead researcher Linda Partridge explained:
"While we do not expect a similar extension to human lifespans as we found in mice, we hope that the drugs we're investigating could help people to stay healthy and disease-free for longer late in life” (pull quote.)
Rapamycin is commonly prescribed to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients, whereas trametinib has been proven to boost life expectancy in fruitflies – as a model organism.
The combination of the two seems to be the winner though, with human trials expected to begin relatively soon.
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