Macular degeneration is an eye disease with two variations---the "dry" and the "wet" type. In the dry type, which has no treatment, central vision slowly and painlessly worsens. The wet type or neovascular type progresses faster and usually begins with distorted vision. Several cancer drugs are being used "off-label" (non-approved for the purpose) experimentally to treat macular degeneration. As of November 2009, 43 experimental clinical studies involving cancer drugs were recruiting participants.
Bevacizumab
The brand name of this drug is Avastin. It is a colorectal anti-cancer medication. Serious warnings accompany its use for that purpose because it may cause gastrointestinal perforation in up to 2.4 percent of patients according to an online drug index, RXLIST. A lengthy medical review article by F. Ziemssen, S. Grisanti, K.U. Bartz-Schmidt and M.S. Spitzer, published in "Drugs and Aging" in 2009 compared Bevacizumab to a newer drug specifically designed for intraocular use, Ranibizumab (brand name Lucentis). Out of 511 reports between June 1, 2005, and July 31, 2008, 33 found "consistent and clear evidence for the efficacy of Bevacizumab." However, even the best of the studies did not have enough evidence on control cases to make a definite conclusion that this drug was better than Ranibizumab. The article also pointed out the safety issues with the cancer drug.
Anti-Angiogenic Drugs
Anti-angiogenic drugs are those that suppress proliferation of cancer cells. Two drugs, Ranibizumab mentioned above, and Pegaptanib, while not normally used to treat cancers, are under study for the treatment of wet macular degeneration. These provide the hope of not only preventing further degradation in vision, but also actually improving sight. A review in "Health Technology Assessment" in May 2008 by J.L. Colquitt, J. Jones, S.C. Tan, A. Takeda, A.J. Clegg and A. Price reported on these drugs.
Methotrexate
Methotrexate, brand name Trexall, is an extremely potent drug used to treat some cancers, although it has many serious side effects. One medical study by S.K. Kurup, C.Gee, and C.M. Greven, which appeared in "Acta Opthamologica" July 21, 2009, with limited information, reported on the intravitreal use of methotrexate in resistant macular degeneration.
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