Most people think cancer is dangerous mainly because of the original tumor.
But in fact, most cancer deaths happen because cancer cells move to other parts of the body. This movement is called metastasis. Once cancer spreads, it becomes much harder to treat and more dangerous.
Doctors often use surgery to remove the main tumor and then follow up with chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is used to kill any small cancer cells that might still be hiding in the body. However, this treatment can sometimes lead to swelling or inflammation in the body, which may actually help cancer spread.
Now, scientists at Emory University have made a discovery that could change how we deal with cancer. They found that a common medicine called ketorolac may help stop cancer from spreading if it is given before surgery.
Ketorolac is a type of drug used to reduce pain and swelling. It is part of a group of drugs called NSAIDs, which stands for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. This drug is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for short-term pain relief and is often used after surgery to manage pain.
Even though ketorolac works well, doctors don’t use it often because it can cause some side effects like bleeding in the stomach or problems with the kidneys.
But in this new study, researchers found that giving ketorolac before surgery helped mice fight off cancer. The drug seemed to wake up the mice’s immune systems, making them better at attacking any cancer cells trying to spread.
What’s more, when the scientists added small amounts of aspirin and omega-3 fatty acids to the treatment, the mice lived even longer. This shows that using a mix of medicines could be even more helpful in stopping cancer from spreading after surgery.
This new finding might also explain something scientists noticed in the past. Earlier studies showed that breast cancer patients who got ketorolac during surgery were less likely to have their cancer come back.
The Emory team thinks the key is timing. If ketorolac is given at just the right time—before surgery—it may help the body fight cancer more effectively by boosting natural defenses when they are needed most.
The research was led by Dr. Vikas P. Sukhatme and was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. It shows that some medicines we already have might be used in new ways to help fight cancer. This idea is exciting because creating new drugs takes a lot of time and money. But using old drugs in smart ways could give patients better results sooner.
Of course, more studies are still needed. What works in mice does not always work the same way in people. Scientists want to make sure ketorolac is safe for human cancer patients and that it truly helps stop the spread of cancer. They are now testing how ketorolac might work with other cancer treatments to help patients live longer and healthier lives.
This research adds to the growing interest in finding new uses for old medicines. If future studies confirm the results, ketorolac might become an easy, low-cost way to help people after cancer surgery and could help save many lives.
If you care about cancer, please see recent studies about new way to increase the longevity of cancer survivors, and results showing new way to supercharge cancer-fighting T cells.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease and cancer and results showing that vitamin D supplements could strongly reduce cancer death.
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