Cancer becomes more dangerous when it spreads to other parts of the body. This spreading process is called metastasis. It is the main reason why many people die from cancer, not the original tumor itself.
When cancer cells leave the main tumor, they can move through the blood or lymph system and begin to grow in new areas of the body. These small cancer cells are often too tiny to find or remove during surgery. This makes them very difficult to treat.
To help prevent cancer from coming back, doctors often give patients chemotherapy after surgery. The idea is to kill any leftover cancer cells before they can grow again. But chemotherapy has problems.
It can cause inflammation in the body, which is a reaction like swelling or redness. Strangely, this inflammation may actually help cancer cells spread faster. This creates a big challenge—how to treat cancer without making it worse.
Researchers at Emory University might have found an easy and surprising answer. It’s a common painkiller called ketorolac.
Ketorolac is a type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), like ibuprofen. It is already approved for use and helps with short-term pain. However, doctors don’t usually give it often because it may cause problems if used for a long time.
But now, it looks like ketorolac might be useful in fighting cancer. In a study led by Dr. Vikas P. Sukhatme, researchers gave ketorolac to mice before surgery. What they saw was very hopeful.
Ketorolac helped the mice’s immune systems destroy cancer cells that had started to spread. Mice that received the drug had fewer tumors and lived longer than mice that didn’t get the drug.
This also helps explain something doctors saw years ago. In the past, some breast cancer patients who received ketorolac during surgery were less likely to have the cancer come back or spread. At that time, no one knew why. Now, this new study may give us the answer.
The scientists also tested a mix of ketorolac with low-dose aspirin and omega-3 fatty acids (which are found in fish oil). These substances all help reduce inflammation. When given together, the mix worked even better. Mice treated with all three had stronger immune systems, fewer tumors, and lived longer.
It may seem strange to think that simple drugs like ketorolac or aspirin could help stop cancer. But the idea makes sense. Inflammation helps cancer cells survive and grow. So, if you reduce inflammation, you make it harder for cancer to spread and easier for the immune system to fight back.
Researchers believe that ketorolac might one day be part of normal cancer treatment. It is too soon to make changes now, because more tests are needed. Scientists need to learn how the drug works in different cancers, what doses are safest, and how to avoid side effects. But the early signs are promising.
If future research shows the same results in humans, ketorolac could become a powerful, low-cost way to fight cancer. It might help stop cancer from spreading and make life better for patients.
This study was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. It shows that even old medicines can lead to big discoveries. A painkiller that has been used for years might turn out to be a new weapon in the fight against cancer.
If you care about cancer risk, please read studies that exercise may stop cancer in its tracks, and vitamin D can cut cancer death risk.
For more health information, please see recent studies that yogurt and high-fiber diet may cut lung cancer risk, and results showing that new cancer treatment may reawaken the immune system.
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