text: An experimental cancer drug axed over poor results may have the ability to reverse the effects of Alzheimer's, experts have revealed. The drug was developed by the British pharmaceutical giant Astra Zeneca with the original aim of treating certain types of tumour, but was shelved after it proved ineffective. Scientists at Yale University in Connecticut in the US have revealed how the treatment, called AZDO5030, restored memory in mice given Alzheimer's disease. An experimental cancer drug axed over poor results may have the ability to reverse the effects of Alzheimer's, experts have revealed (file picture) The drug worked by blocking a process that breaks nerve connections in the brain used to store memory. Researchers say the study has led to the launch of human trials to test the efficacy of the drug in Alzheimer's patients. Stephen Strittmatter, the author of the report, published in Annals of Neurology, said: 'With this treatment, cells under bombardment by beta amyloid plaques show restored synaptic connections and reduced inflammation, and the animal’s memory, which was lost during the course of the disease, comes back. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health which launched a programme to test failed drugs on different diseases. Mr Strittmatter and his co-author Christopher van Dyck have already started a 'multi-site clinical trial' to determine whether the drug can also benefit Alzheimer's patients. According to the Alzheimer's Society, there are 850,000 people with dementia in Britain - a figure that includes 40,000 younger people. The charity estimates that 60,000 deaths are attributable to dementia every year and that there will be one million people with the disease in the UK by 2025. It reports that the financial cost of dementia to the UK is £26billion a year. The Daily Express reports the charity's head of research Dr James Pickett as giving the latest treatment a cautious welcome. He said: 'Drug development can take decades, so repurposing pre-existing drugs for dementia is a promising avenue to find new treatments as they have been shown to be safe to use in people and can lead to clinical trials sooner. 'As we learn more about the causes of dementia, there is hope that treatments we routinely use for other diseases may also work for people with dementia.'
target: Drug called AZDO5030 originally designed to treat certain types of tumour .
  Scientists say it has restored memory in mice given Alzheimer's disease .
  Human trials have already been launched to test efficacy of drug in patients .