New Hope For Cancer Treatment

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – There was hope for at least some cancer patients Thursday after experts announced new treatment may be available from an unexpected source.

Lidocaine, a commonly used local anesthetic that works by blocking signals at the nerve endings in the skin, could play a significant role in successfully treating cancers, concluded researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.

“While we’re not suggesting the lidocaine could cure cancer, we’re galvanized by the possibility that it could get an edge on head and neck cancer treatment. And move the dial forward, in terms of improving treatment options for patients with this challenging form of cancer,” said Ryan Carey, an assistant professor and co-lead author of the study.

Lidocaine activates a particular bitter taste receptor through “two unique mechanisms” that result in cancer cell death, according to researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Their findings were published in Cell Reports, Worthy News learned Thursday. The publication paves the way for a clinical trial to test the addition of lidocaine to the standard of care therapy for patients with head and neck cancers, officials said.

The local anesthetic drug has long been suggested to have beneficial effects in cancer patients, but it wasn’t known how or why.

“The team found that lidocaine activates the bitter taste receptor T2R14, which is elevated in various cancer cells. When this receptor is activated, it starts an apoptosis process, causing the cancer cells to die,” researchers said.

“We were surprised to find that lidocaine targets the one receptor that happened to be most highly expressed across cancers,” noted study lead Robert Lee, an assistant professor of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania.

While more research is needed, the discovery has offered more hope for treating several forms of cancer, researchers suggested.

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