A new study led by Dr. Michael Feigin at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has revealed that certain medications used to treat anxiety and sleep problems may actually influence how well cancer patients respond to treatment—especially those with pancreatic cancer.
The medications in question are benzodiazepines, a class of drugs widely prescribed to cancer patients to help manage anxiety, insomnia, and distress. Among the most commonly used are lorazepam (brand name Ativan) and alprazolam(brand name Xanax). These drugs are generally seen as safe for short-term relief.
But this new research shows that not all benzodiazepines affect the body in the same way—and some may do more harm than good for certain cancer patients.
Dr. Feigin’s team found that lorazepam was linked to faster cancer progression and worse survival rates in people with pancreatic cancer. In contrast, alprazolam was associated with significantly longer periods without the cancer getting worse—what doctors call “progression-free survival.”
The team also looked at data from over 3,000 cancer patients and found that more than 40% of pancreatic cancer patients at their center had been prescribed benzodiazepines. That’s the highest rate among all cancer types they studied. Worryingly, they also found that lorazepam was tied to poorer survival in several other cancers, not just pancreatic cancer.
Why might this be happening?
To find out, the researchers dug deeper into how these medications affect the body at the molecular level. They discovered that lorazepam activates a protein called GPR68, which plays a role in causing inflammation in tumors.
Inflammation is known to help cancers grow and spread. In mice, lorazepam triggered changes in the tumor environment that made pancreatic cancer worse.
In contrast, alprazolam did not activate this inflammation pathway. In fact, it reduced the amount of a harmful molecule called IL-6, which is also linked to tumor growth and inflammation.
Still, there are limits to what this study can tell us. Mice and humans process drugs differently, and real-life patients are given different doses of these medications for different reasons. Also, some experiments used tumors implanted under the skin in mice, which don’t always behave the same way as naturally growing cancers in humans.
Even so, the findings are important and may change how doctors think about treating anxiety in cancer patients. Dr. Feigin stressed that it’s too early to tell patients to stop taking lorazepam, but he noted that a clinical trial is being plannedto study these effects further.
For now, this research suggests that healthcare providers should pay closer attention to the types of medications given to cancer patients—especially those with aggressive cancers like pancreatic cancer. It opens the door to more personalized care, where even commonly used drugs like anti-anxiety medications are chosen based on how they might affect cancer growth.
In the future, this research may lead to new guidelines for supportive care in cancer treatment, helping patients not only feel better but also live longer. The full study was published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
For more information about cancer, please see recent studies that plant-based diets may reduce risk of colorectal cancer in men, and Low-fat diet may help stop cancer growth.
For more information about cancer, please see recent studies about How to harness the power of anti-cancer foods and supplements and results showing that Empower your plate: cancer-fighting foods and recipes.
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