aspirin – Oral Cancer News

“Unclear” whether opioids are effective at treating cancer pain

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: Peer-reviewed publication, University of Warwick The world’s largest review on opioid medicines for cancer pain has found it is unclear whether some commonly used opioid medicines are better than a placebo and suggests that non-opioid medicines, including aspirin, may be as effective as opioids. Researchers examining the data on opioids for pain caused by cancer have found surprisingly large gaps in evidence regarding the true benefits of these medicines for cancer pain. The study challenges the commonly held view that opioids are the most powerful pain relievers. The study, led by The University of Sydney and including The University of Warwick highlights that there is no ‘one size fits all’ treatment approach for cancer pain, urging health professionals and patients to carefully weigh up the evidence when deciding on a suitable pain management plan. Opioid pain relievers are the most common treatment for cancer pain management. Many international guidelines including the World Health Organization, recommend opioid medications to manage background cancer pain (constant pain) and breakthrough cancer pain (temporary flare-ups of pain in addition to background pain). However, the study found very few trials have compared commonly used opioid medicines with placebo. This included morphine, oxycodone and methadone. The study did not find convincing evidence that morphine was better or safer than other opioid medicines for background cancer pain outside of end-of-life care. This is despite morphine being widely viewed as the ‘gold standard treatment’ for cancer care by physicians and recommended in many international clinical guidelines [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2023-12-19T12:32:24-07:00December, 2023|Oral Cancer News|

NSAID use may improve overall survival during chemoradiation for patients with HNSCC

Source: www.cancernetwork.com Author: Hannah Slater This study demonstrated a possible advantage in overall survival for patients taking NSAIDs during chemoradiation for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. A study published in JAMA Network Open suggested a possible advantage in overall survival (OS) for patients taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) during chemoradiation for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, researchers suggested that future studies evaluating this association are warranted. “This large, retrospective cohort study suggests a significant association with improved OS for patients with HNSCC taking NSAIDs during definitive CRT,” the authors wrote. “While the change in LC with NSAID use was not significant, future studies should continue to evaluate this possibility.” Overall, 460 patients with HNSCC who were treated with chemoradiation therapy (CRT) at a single institution between January 1, 2005 and August 1, 2017 were included in the study, including 201 patients (43.7%) who were taking NSAIDs during treatment. Patient and tumor characteristics included age, race/ethnicity, smoking status, alcohol use, comorbidities (respiratory, cardiovascular, immune, renal, endocrine), disease stage, human papillomavirus (HPV) status, and treatment duration. On univariate analysis, NSAID use (hazard ratio [HR], 0.63; 95% CI, 0.43-0.92; P = 0.02) was associated with better OS. Moreover, on Cox regression analysis, after backward selection adjustment for possibly confounding factors such as age, smoking status, primary tumor site, human papillomavirus status, diabetes, stroke, and hyperlipidemia, NSAID use continued to be significantly associated with better OS (HR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.38-0.90; P = 0.02). Even further, at 5 years NSAID [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2020-07-20T04:56:30-07:00July, 2020|Oral Cancer News|

Aspirin against migraines and cancer

Source: www.swoknews.com Author: staff Aspirin never ceases to amaze us. For a medicine that has been around for over 120 years and remains one of the most inexpensive drugs in the pharmacy, we are surprised that there continue to be discoveries. The latest review of aspirin has to do with its use in the prevention of migraine headaches (American Journal of Medicine, April 2020). One of the authors is Dr. Charles Hennekens. He is considered one of the world’s top scientists by his colleagues. He has contributed to three textbooks and over 750 medical publications. Dr. Hennekens and his co-authors reviewed the aspirin data over the past several decades. They concluded: “The totality of evidence, which includes data from randomized trials, suggests that high-dose aspirin, in doses from 900 to 1,300 mg, given at the onset of symptoms, is an effective and safe treatment option for acute migraine headaches. In addition, the totality of evidence, including, some but not all, randomized trials, suggests the possibility that daily aspirin in doses from 81 to 325 mg, may be an effective and safe treatment option for the prevention of recurrent migraine headaches. “The relatively favorable side effect profile of aspirin and extremely low cost compared with other prescription drug therapies may provide additional clinical options for primary healthcare providers in the treatment of both acute and recurrent migraine headaches.” Of course, no one should take high doses of aspirin without medical supervision. The same holds true for long-term use. Aspirin can cause [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2020-06-15T12:16:28-07:00June, 2020|Oral Cancer News|

How regular use of painkillers could boost survival rates from cancer

Source: www.mirror.co.uk Author: Miriam Stoppard In recent research, aspirin or ibuprofen were found to treble the chance of beating head and neck cancer. Could regular use of aspirin or ibuprofen boost survival rates from head and neck cancer? It seems it’s possible. In recent research, the common painkillers were found to treble the chance of survival (from 25% to 78%) for patients with a specific kind of cancer which contains an altered gene, known as PIK3CA. Around a third of head and neck cancers carry this mutation and it’s also found in other types of cancer. Head and neck cancer is newly diagnosed in more than 12,000 people in the UK each year, and in 65,000 in the US. It kills just over 4,000 people here and 14,000 in America. There are more than 30 areas in the head and neck where cancer can develop, such as the mouth and throat. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, looked at five-year survival rates for people diagnosed with the disease and found the regular use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin and ibuprofen, significantly improved survival for a third or more of patients with the disease. All the patients had the mutated gene. NSAIDs, however, had no effect on tumours without PIK3CA mutation. The study included 266 patients from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center whose tumours were surgically removed. Altogether, 75 tumours (28%) in the study had a change in the PIK3CA gene. Among the patients who [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-03-06T10:00:16-07:00March, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

How aspirin may benefit some people with head and neck cancer

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: Catharine Paddock PhD, fact checked by Paula Field Recent research has tied regular use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin, to longer survival in some people with head and neck cancer. The researchers propose that there should now be a clinical trial to test the effectiveness and safety of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for this purpose. They suggest that the effect that they observed is likely due to the NSAIDs reducing prostaglandin E2, a molecule that promotes inflammation. A paper on their findings now features in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. Head and neck cancers are cancers in which tumors develop in the nose, sinuses, larynx, throat, and mouth. In most cases, the tumors arise in the flat thin squamous cells that form the tissue lining of surfaces. For this reason, they bear the name head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs). In the United States, people with HNSCCs account for around 4 percent of all those with cancer. These types of cancer also tend to have a lower rate of survival compared with many other types. The main risk factors for HNSCC are tobacco use, heavy use of alcohol, sun exposure, and infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). Aspirin and HNSCC Previous research has suggested that taking aspirin regularly can reduce the risk of developing HNSCCs. However, the recent study is the first to link the use of aspirin and other NSAIDs to longer survival in some people who already have HNSCC. It found that, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2019-01-28T19:30:02-07:00January, 2019|Oral Cancer News|

I get by with help from my friends: Maintaining immune cells in head and neck cancer

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: Medical University of South Carolina In an article published September 22, 2016 in Frontiers in Immunology, researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center report that inhibiting prostaglandin production slows the progression of premalignant lesions to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Preclinical studies showed that treatment of premalignant lesions with indomethacin, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) similar to aspirin, increased the presence of immune cells and lessened tumor burden. Cancers of the head and neck begin with lesions in the oral cavity, including the larynx, pharynx, throat, lips, mouth, salivary glands, and nasal passages. Although the incidence of HNSCC has been on the decline over the past several decades, the National Cancer Institute reports that approximately 3% of all cancers in the U.S. result from HNSCC, with men being diagnosed twice as often as women. Treatment for HNSCC includes surgical removal and chemo-radiation treatment; however, these interventions often fail, and patients have a five-year survival rate of only 50%. It is critical to determine better treatment options for HNSCC patients. One way researchers at MUSC are trying to improve the treatment of HNSCC is by enhancing the body's own immune system to attack the tumor. "There's a lot of effort to stimulate immune reactivity using immunotherapy. The problem with that is cancer can protect itself against the immune defenses. Head and neck cancer is notorious for that," said immunologist M. Rita Young, Ph.D., senior author for [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-12-01T14:54:58-07:00December, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Aspirin may stop deafness caused by chemotherapy

Source: www.bbc.com Author: staff Aspirin could save the hearing of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, scientists in Cardiff hope. A trial will be launched at the city's Velindre Hospital to see if high doses of the drug can prevent permanent loss. Conditions ranging from tinnitus to deafness are a common side effect for patients given the chemotherapy drug cisplatin. The trial, called Coast, has recruited 88 adults prescribed cisplatin in Cardiff and other UK hospitals. It is used to treat testicular cancer, germ cell cancer, head and neck cancer, bladder cancer, cervical cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and some types of children's cancer. 'Shock it was cancer' Father-of-four Andrew Millington, 66, was given cisplatin after a tumour was found at the base of his tongue. "I had a persistent sore throat and earache, and I went to see my GP last spring," he said. "I was referred to a consultant and had an MRI scan. It was a shock to be told it was cancer but... it was generally curable, which was such a relief to hear. I was offered cisplatin and, after hearing about the possible side effects, I was more than happy to take part in the Coast trial." Around 18,500 cancer patients receive cisplatin every year and around half suffer some form of permanent hearing loss. Ahead of the trial's launch on Thursday, professor Emma King, chief investigator and Cancer Research UK surgeon at the University of Southampton, said: "Aspirin can have serious side effects, including internal bleeding, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-05-11T11:18:15-07:00May, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

NSAIDs may cut oral cancer risk

Source: www.newsfix.ca Author: Martin March People who smoke are protected from oral cancer by aspirin or ibuprofen, according to a study. It’s already known that smoking is a strong risk factor for oral cancer. A study from the Norwegian Radium Hospital reveals that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may help protect some smokers from the disease. They looked at a group of light to moderate smokers who had taken NSAIDs over a long period. They were about 65 per cent less likely to develop oral cancer compared to smokers who did not take NSAIDs. All types of NSAID were protective, including ibuprofen, aspirin and indomethacin. However, acetaminophen, a common pain reliever which is not an NSAID, was not found to be effective. The benefit of NSAIDs was found to be greatest for those who smoked least. At higher levels of consumption of tobacco, its carcinogenic effect overcomes the benefit of the NSAID.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2013-07-04T06:20:04-07:00July, 2013|Oral Cancer News|

Aspirin Protects Against Barrett’s Esophagus, Study Suggests

Source: ScienceDaily.com Aspirin use appears to reduce the risk of Barrett's esophagus (BE), the largest known risk factor for esophageal cancer, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. "The protective effect of aspirin use appears robust because the analyses suggests a dose-response relationship in which high-dose aspirin was significantly associated with decreased Barrett's esophagus risk," said Chin Hur, MD, MPH, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Technology Assessment and lead author of this study. "It would not be advisable at this time for patients to start taking aspirin, particularly at higher doses, if preventing Barrett's esophagus is the only goal. However, if additional data confirms our findings and an individual at high risk for development of Barrett's esophagus and esophageal cancer also could derive additional benefits, most notably cardiovascular, aspirin could be a consideration." Dr. Hur and his team of researchers analyzed characteristics of 434 BE patients for factors that might be used in screening and management. In addition to finding that those taking aspirin were 44 percent less likely to have BE, they also found that men were more than three times more likely to develop BE than women. The incidence of esophageal cancer has been increasing at an alarming rate during the past few decades; current attempts at targeted screening for this type of cancer focus on identifying BE. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), particularly aspirin, have been associated with reduced esophageal cancer incidence. Although [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-07-26T15:26:31-07:00July, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Aspirin Cuts Death Rate From Several Common Cancers

Source: Web MD Taking aspirin over a long period of time can substantially cut the risk of dying from a variety of cancers, according to a study showing that the benefit is independent of dose, gender, or smoking. It also found that the protective effect increases with age. The study is by Peter Rothwell, MD, PhD, FRCP, of John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, and colleagues, and has been published online by the journal the Lancet. A previous study by the same authors showed that low doses of aspirin (75-300 milligrams) reduced the number of cases of colorectal cancer by a quarter and deaths caused by the disease by more than a third. The latest study confirms the earlier results and concludes that similar effects can be shown for other types of cancers. The study looked at eight trials examining the effects of a daily dose of aspirin on preventing heart attacks involving 25,570 patients, 674 of whom died from cancer. They showed a 21% reduction in the number of deaths caused by cancer among those who had taken aspirin, compared with people who had not. The investigation also showed that the benefits of taking aspirin increased over time. After five years, death rates were shown to fall by 34% for all cancers and by 54% for gastrointestinal cancers. Participants were also followed up after 20 years, by which point 1,634 of the original participants had died as a direct result of cancer. This 20-year follow-up established that the risk [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-22T11:18:57-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|