The researchers from Tel Aviv University are inviting patients with colon or pancreatic cancer to participate in the experiment * Among the group of patients who received the drug treatment, it was found that cancer metastases developed in only 12.5% of the patients (2 out of 16 patients) * On the other hand, in the control group (which received placebo treatment) a disease developed Metastatic in 33% of the patients, (6 out of the 18 control patients) and in accordance with the accepted statistics among patients of this type
Researchers from Tel Aviv University were able to significantly reduce the risk of the spread of cancer metastases after tumor resection in colon cancer patients. Through a short drug treatment around the time of surgery, the researchers were able to reduce the body's physiological stress and inflammation reactions during this critical period, thus preventing the development of cancer metastases during the years after surgery. The research was carried out by Prof. Shamgar Ben-Eliyahu from the School of Psychological Sciences and the Segol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University and Prof. Oded Zamora from Assaf Harofeh Medical Center. The study was recently published in the journal Cancer.
During the study, the researchers followed for 3 years 34 patients treated by them during surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in the colon. During the surgery, the researchers gave the patients two well-known and safe drugs: propranolol (Darlin), a drug to lower blood pressure and reduce anxiety, and etodolac (Etopan), a drug used to prevent inflammation and pain. The patients took the drugs for only 20 days - from five days before to two weeks after the surgery - while half of them received placebo drugs as a control group.
The results are very encouraging: among the group of patients who received the drug treatment, it was found that the cancer metastases developed in only 12.5% of the patients (2 out of 16 patients). In contrast, in the control group (which did not receive the drug treatment) a metastatic disease developed in 33% of the patients (6 out of the 18 control patients) and in accordance with the statistics accepted among this type of patients. Prof. Ben-Eliyahu expresses great satisfaction with the data but notes that "although the results are impressive, this study must be repeated with a much larger number of patients to prove that the treatment does save lives."
According to Prof. Ben Eliyahu, the drugs turned the tumor and the cancer cells left after the surgery from a pro-metastatic tissue to a tissue with less metastatic potential, and this according to molecular markers in the cancer cells studied by them. Also, the drugs changed for the better the amount and type of leukocytes (the patient's white blood cells) in the tumor - indicators that also predict a lower chance of cancer recurrence.
Prof. Ben Eliyahu explains: "When the body is in a state of stress, physiological (such as surgery) or psychological, hormones from the prostaglandin and catecholamine families are secreted in large quantities. These hormones suppress the activity of immune system cells and thus indirectly encourage the development of cancer metastases. In addition, these hormones encourage metastatic properties directly in cancerous tissue. In our research, we were able to show that by means of cheap and accessible drug treatment, it is possible to reduce the body's withdrawal and inflammatory reactions during surgery, to influence the properties of the cancerous tissue, thereby significantly reducing the risk of developing metastases that will be discovered months or years after the surgery."
After the success of the initial study, Prof. Ben-Eliyahu and Prof. Zamora are calling on colon and pancreatic cancer patients in Israel who are facing surgery to register for a large-scale clinical study that has started these days in eight different medical centers in Israel - with the aim of saving lives.
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