Many people take medications known as benzodiazepines to help manage anxiety, stress, panic attacks, or sleep problems.
These medicines have been used for decades and are often prescribed because they can quickly help people feel calmer and more relaxed. Some of the best-known drugs in this group include lorazepam, often sold under the brand name Ativan, and alprazolam, commonly known as Xanax.
For people living with cancer, anxiety can be a major challenge. A cancer diagnosis often brings uncertainty, fear, pain, and emotional stress.
As a result, doctors frequently prescribe benzodiazepines to help patients cope with these difficult experiences. However, new research suggests that some of these commonly used medications may have unexpected effects on certain types of cancer.
A team of researchers led by Dr. Michael Feigin at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center investigated whether different benzodiazepines could affect the growth and progression of pancreatic cancer. Their findings add an important new piece to our understanding of how medications may interact with cancer biology.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. It is often called a “silent” disease because symptoms may not appear until the cancer has already spread.
By the time many patients are diagnosed, treatment options are limited, and survival rates remain low. Because of this, researchers are constantly searching for new ways to improve patient outcomes and better understand factors that may influence the disease.
The researchers examined two commonly prescribed anxiety medications, lorazepam and alprazolam. Although both belong to the same drug family, the team found surprisingly different effects.
Patients who took lorazepam appeared to experience faster cancer growth and spread. In contrast, patients who took alprazolam appeared to have slower cancer progression. This unexpected difference caught the attention of the researchers and led them to investigate the possible biological reasons behind it.
The study also revealed how frequently these medicines are used among people with cancer. Nearly one-third of cancer patients treated at the research center had received a benzodiazepine prescription. Among pancreatic cancer patients, the proportion was even higher, with about 40% using one of these medications.
To better understand what might be happening, researcher Abigail Cornwell explored how the drugs interact with cancer cells and the tumor environment. Her work suggested that lorazepam may activate a protein known as GPR68. This protein appears to increase inflammation within pancreatic tumors.
Inflammation is the body’s natural response to injury or infection, but chronic inflammation can sometimes help cancers grow and spread.
When inflammation increases inside a tumor, cancer cells may become more aggressive and more difficult to treat. The researchers believe that activation of GPR68 could be one reason why lorazepam was associated with worse outcomes in pancreatic cancer patients.
The story was different for alprazolam. The researchers found that it did not activate GPR68. Instead, it appeared to reduce levels of IL-6, a molecule linked to inflammation. Lower levels of inflammation could potentially help slow cancer growth, which may explain why patients taking alprazolam appeared to fare better.
Although these findings are intriguing, the researchers emphasize that the results should be interpreted carefully. The study has several limitations. Some experiments were performed in mice rather than humans, and patients received different doses and treatment schedules.
In addition, some laboratory studies used tumors grown under the skin, which do not perfectly represent how pancreatic cancer behaves inside the human body.
Because of these limitations, doctors are not recommending changes to current prescribing practices based on this study alone. Patients should not stop taking prescribed medications without discussing the matter with their healthcare team. More research is needed before any firm conclusions can be drawn.
The research team is already planning future clinical trials to study these medications more closely in cancer patients. If the findings are confirmed, they could eventually help doctors make more personalized treatment decisions.
Physicians may one day consider the specific type of anxiety medication they prescribe based on a patient’s cancer type and overall health situation.
This research highlights an important lesson in medicine: drugs often have effects beyond their original purpose. A medication designed to treat anxiety may also influence inflammation, immune responses, or even cancer growth. Understanding these hidden effects can help researchers develop safer and more effective treatment strategies.
As scientists continue to explore the complex relationship between medications and cancer, studies like this may open new opportunities to improve care for patients facing one of the most challenging diseases.
The findings offer hope that a better understanding of commonly used drugs could eventually contribute to more effective and personalized cancer treatment.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that artificial sweeteners are linked to higher cancer risk, and how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease and cancer.
For more health information, please see recent studies about the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease, and results showing vitamin D supplements strongly reduces cancer death.
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