Common painkillers potent in fighting cancer - study

According to the findings of a new study, common painkiller can effectively fight viruses which boost growth of cancer tumors.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV), a quiescent virus afflicts almost 75 percent of the world's population. Central to most lethal forms of cancers – specifically of the brain, breast, bowel and prostate, the CMV comes into action upon detecting cancer cells, aiding tumour growth.

Using anti-viral and anti-inflammatory painkillers not only impaired the growth of the virus but also slowed down the growth of cancer cells by up to 72 percent, researchers found.

The study
For the study, scientists at Karolinska Institute in Sweden used laboratory engineered mice. The mice already afflicted with cancer were also carrying the CMV virus.

Researchers found that the tumour growth in mice slowed by 72 percent when they were treated with a combination of antiviral drugs and a new anti-inflammatory painkiller, called the COX-2 inhibitors.

Hopes for new complementary treatment anticipated
Excited with the findings, study’s lead researcher, Professor Cecilia Soderberg-Naucler, from the Karolinska Institute, said, “We show in experimental systems that we can inhibit the growth of these tumours with antiviral drugs, which opens up a new potential therapeutic approach to certain tumours in the future.”

“This presents a new approach and could be used as a possible complementary therapy,” Soderberg-Naucler added.

The findings are yet to go through human trails. But “it will be interesting to see where this research leads in the longer term,” Oliver Childs, of Cancer Research UK, was quoted as saying.