A common anti-nausea medication used during chemotherapy may help women with early-stage breast cancer live longer, especially those with the aggressive triple-negative form.
That’s the finding of a new study led by researchers from Monash University and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, published in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The study looked at the medical records of over 13,000 women in Norway who were treated for early-stage breast cancer between 2008 and 2020.
All of them received chemotherapy along with drugs to prevent nausea and vomiting—a common side effect of cancer treatment. One particular medication stood out: aprepitant.
Women who took aprepitant during their chemotherapy had an 11% lower risk of their cancer coming back and a 17% lower risk of dying from breast cancer over a 10-year period.
The benefits were even greater for women with triple-negative breast cancer, a type that is harder to treat and lacks targeted therapies. In these women, aprepitant use was linked to a 34% lower risk of cancer coming back and a 39% lower risk of dying from breast cancer.
Dr. Aeson Chang from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), one of the lead authors of the study, explained that triple-negative breast cancer often leads to poorer outcomes because there are fewer treatment options available.
That’s why finding a new benefit from an existing and safe medication like aprepitant is so promising.
While aprepitant is mainly used to reduce nausea during the first few days of chemotherapy, this study suggests it may be doing more than just helping patients feel better. Researchers are now wondering whether using it for longer periods could boost survival even more.
Professor Erica Sloan, another senior author from MIPS, said the findings are exciting because they point to a new way to support women with triple-negative breast cancer. With about 3,000 Australian women diagnosed with this form of cancer every year, new treatment strategies are urgently needed. She called for more studies and clinical trials to confirm the benefits of aprepitant and potentially change current prescribing guidelines.
The study’s first author, Dr. Edoardo Botteri, said using real-world data from a large patient group helped uncover this possible new benefit. However, he emphasized that this is just the first step. More research is needed to understand exactly how aprepitant affects cancer and whether it could help in other types of cancer as well.
If you care about breast cancer, please read studies about how eating patterns help ward off breast cancer, and soy and plant compounds may prevent breast cancer recurrence.
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Source: Monash University.
