Researchers have discovered that the substance contained in sore throat medications like Strepsil® or Humex® was able to destroy cancer cells in certain cancers.
It’s a promising discovery in the field of cancer. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania (United States) have shown that lidocainesubstance contained in certain medications to treat sore throats as the Strepsil® or Humex Sore Throat® could be beneficial in some patients with head and neck cancer, including those linked to the papillomavirus (HPV). Concretely, lidocaine would have the capacity toactivate certain bitter taste receptors (called T2R14), which would limit the proliferation of the tumor and lead to an apoptosisin other words, the death of cancer cellscan we read in the study published in the journal Cell Reports on November 22, 2023. The “bitter” taste receptors are mainly found in the cells of the oral cavity and oropharynxwhich are altered in patients with head and neck cancer.
Today this substance is already used as anesthetic in outpatient medical procedures but is also administered by intramuscular routesubcutaneous or epidural (via the fatty space of the spinal canal) to relieve pain in patients with cancer. But if its benefits are confirmed (other clinical trials in humans are necessary), the lidocaine could also be used as cancer prevention Or “could have therapeutic potential in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck in topical gel form or dintratumoral injection“, hope the researchers. “We know lidocaine is safewe feel comfortable using it and it is readily available, meaning it could be seamlessly integrated into other aspects of head and neck cancer care“, confirms Ryan Carey, head and neck surgeon and co-author of the study.
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Squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck occur in the mucous membrane of the oral and nasal cavities, larynx and pharynx, resulting from exposure to environmental carcinogens (tobacco, alcohol) and/or human papillomavirus (HPV) In France, iIt is the 5th most common cancer with more than 15,000 new cases each year and a mortality rate of 50% over 5 years. This high mortality is partly due to late diagnoses, the absence of preventive screening and high rates of metastases. These cancers concern two to three times more men than women and particularly smokers.
- Lidocaine induces apoptosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma through activation of bitter taste receptor T2R14 – Cell Reports