Repurposed Medications

Repurposed medicines are medications that are used off label to address a concern. The use of medicines in a repurposed manner encompasses both conventional (broadly accepted) medical practice as well as unconventional medicine. An example of a widely accepted repurposed medicine is misoprostol. This medicine is approved by the FDA for prevention of gastric ulcers but is almost entirely used in obstetrics for induction of labor and to treat postpartum hemorrhage. The REDO Project is a less conventionally accepted approach involving repurposing drugs in oncology. Usual drug candidates are old, inexpensive and with a known safety profile. Much of research is driven in the pharmaceutical world by profit so these inexpensive and off-patent medications might otherwise be left unresearched if not for the efforts of this nonprofit group. Metformin is an example of one oncology drug candidate that has recently been the subject of more research in oncology with multiple clinical trials ongoing. Jane Mclelland authored a book describing her use of multiple repurposed drugs and supplements in blocking cancer's metabolic pathways. In her case she maintains long remission from stage 4 cervical cancer. The Care Oncology Clinic uses a repurposed drug regimen to augment treatment in cancer patients and these medications and more are used by many other providers as an off label use.