Autism’s Social Deficits Are Reversed By An Anti-Cancer Drug

Updated May 15, 2018 This content is archived.

New Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences research has shown that an approved anti-cancer drug can significantly restore the social deficits associated with autism spectrum disorder in mice. “We have discovered a small molecule compound that shows a profound and prolonged effect on autism-like social deficits without obvious side effects, while many currently used compounds for treating a variety of psychiatric diseases have failed to exhibit the therapeutic efficacy for this core symptom of autism,” said Zhen Yan, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of physiology and biophysics.