Exclusive | Children with autism are showing dramatic improvement with this cheap drug and doctor behind its research says it may one day prevent the disorder

As scientists continue to investigate the roots of autism, a generic cancer drug might hold the key.Leucovorin is prescribed to reduce the side effects of chemo.But in several studies conducted over the past 13 years, Dr.

Richard Frye has compiled growing evidence that it can improve signs of autism, even leading nonverbal children to speak for the first time.He told The Post that he believes these successes could be valuable in both treating autism and — down the line — potentially preventing the disorder altogether“If you’re going to the doctor and looking for an autism pill, it doesn’t exist,” Frye, a pediatric neurologist from Arizona, told The Post.“But leucovorin has helped a lot of children.”Autism spectrum disorder encompasses a broad range of conditions that affect how people learn, behave, communicate and interact with others.

In recent years, the number of autism diagnoses in the US has skyrocketed, increasing by 175% between 2011 and 2022, largely driven by a spike in cases among young people.According to the CDC, around 1 in 36 children are on the spectrum in the US.Researchers point to “increased advocacy and education” as one possible reason for the surge, with more people getting themselves or their children screened.

Others suggest that the uptick could be attributed to shifts in screening practices, policy changes, environmental factors and evolving diagnosis definitions.Frye first turned to leucovorin as a potential treatment in the early 2000s after observing a striking pattern in children with autism. “I started to realize that the neurochemistry in the brain was off,” he said. Around the same time, new research emerged showing that many children with neurodevelopmental disorders had low levels of folate (vitamin B9) in their brains — a condition known as cerebral folate deficiency (CFD).Notably, scientists also discovered that many of these children carried folate receptor alpha (FR⍺) autoantibodies, which bloc...