New Delhi, Aug. 4 -- their ability to move. Deprived of cholesterol by a drug best known for treating erectile dysfunction, the cells had lost the molecular scaffold they use to invade new tissue and seed distant organs. The drug was sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra. A study describing the mechanism, published in the journal Cancer Research in July 2026, represents what researchers call a world first.

it blocks the enzyme, raising levels of a signaling molecule called cyclic GMP, which in turn traps the transport proteins that ferry cholesterol into cancer cells. Without cholesterol, the researchers found, tumors lose a structural and signaling resource that is critical for metastasis. The work, led by Dr. Ariav and Prof. Ayel...