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Head and neck cancer survival rates tripled with cheap painkillers

Only 266 participants in trial, but big pharma doesn’t pay to test free drugs

26-Jan-2019

Key points from article :

Common and cheap painkillers boost survival rates if cancer contains one specific gene.

Crucial gene found in about one-third of head and neck cancers.

Ibuprofen and aspirin boosted survival rates from 25 per cent to 78 per cent .

Head and neck cancers are diagnosed in about 12,000 people in Britain each year.

University of California San Francisco studied survival rates five years after diagnosis.

The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Mentioned in this article:

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Jennifer Grandis

American Cancer Society Professor of Otolaryngology at UCSF.

Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM)

Journal providing novel conceptual insight into immunology, neuroscience, cancer biology, vascular biology, microbial pathogenesis, and stem cell biology.

Justin Stebbing

Consultant Oncologist and Professor of Cancer Medicine and Oncology.

University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

Public research university that is part of the University of California system and dedicated entirely to health science

Topics mentioned on this page:
Cancer