The promise of copper lowering therapy with tetrathiomolybdate in the cure of cancer and in the treatment of inflammatory disease

Tetrathiomolybdate (TM) is a unique anticopper drug developed for the treatment of the neurologic presentation of Wilson's disease, for which it is excellent. Since it was known copper was required for angiogenesis, TM was tested on mouse cancer models to see if it would inhibit tumor growth based on an antiangiogenic effect. TM was extremely effective in these models, but all the tumors in the models started small in size – micrometastatic in size. Later, TM was tested in numerous human cancer trials, where it showed only modest effects. However, the mouse lesson of efficacy against micro disease was forgotten – all the trials were against bulky, advanced cancer. Now, the mouse evidence is coming back to life. Three groups are curing, or having major efficacy of TM, against advanced human cancers, heretofore virtually incurable, particularly if the cancer has been reduced to no evidence of disease (NED) status by conventional therapy. In that situation, where the remaining disease is micrometastatic, TM therapy appears to be curative. We have designed and initiated a study of TM in canine osteosarcoma at the micrometastatic phase to help put these findings on a firm scientific basis. TM also has major anti-inflammatory properties by inhibiting copper dependent cytokines involved in inflammation. This anti-inflammatory effect may be involved in TM's anticancer effect because cancers, as they advance, attract inflammatory cells that provide a plethora of additional proangiogenic agents.