Sildenafil (Viagra®, Revatio®), Tadalafil and Vardenafil (Levitra®) are a typetypes of drugs used to treat erectile dysfuntion and pulmonary arterial hypertension. These drugs are known as PDE5 inhibitors.
NICE do not recommend sildenafil, tadalafil or vardenafil for use as a brain tumour treatment.
The Repurposing Drugs in Oncology project (ReDO) is working to investigate whether existing drugs could be effective in cancer treatment. PDE5 inhibitors are believed to increase the permeability of the blood brain barrier which could allow other chemotherapy drugs to cross into the brain and be more effective. Therefore the ReDO recommends that further clinical research is carried out, particularly in the case of tumours such as glioblastoma, to see if the drugs could help to enhance other treatments.
NICE do not recommend sildenafil, tadalafil or vardenafil as a treatment for brain tumours. It is important to talk to your healthcare team before taking any new medicines or making changes that may affect your treatment.
If you have further questions, need to clarify any of the information on this page, or want to find out more about research and clinical trials, please contact our team:
0808 800 0004 (free from landlines and mobiles)
support@thebraintumourcharity.org
Phone lines open Mon-Fri, 09:00-17:00
clinicaltrials@thebraintumourcharity.org
You can also join our active online community on Facebook - find out more about our groups.