Hydralazine has been used to treat high blood pressure for many decades, even though it's never been exactly clear how it works. Now a new study answers some key questions about the medication – and adds an intriguing new link to brain cancer .

Taking a closer look at the effects of hydralazine on human and mouse cells, researchers led by a team from the University of Pennsylvania found that it blocks a particular enzyme called 2-aminoethanethiol dioxygenase (ADO).

That same enzyme, as it happens, is thought to play a role in aggressive glioblastoma brain cancers . This new understanding of hydralazine could lead the way to new cancer treatments, as well as improve the drug's effectiveness for its current targets.

"Hydralazine is one of the earliest vasodilators ever developed,

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