A new study has claimed that during surgery, the immune system is so over-worked by dealing with wound healing, that it may allow some cancer cells to pass it and go on to lie dormant in other parts of the body. Researchers believe this is why there is a high incidence of metastatic breast cancer after 18-24 months. The study looked at breast cancer in particular and was conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.
Metastatic breast cancer following soon after surgery has been well documented, but this study in mice was the first to prove a causal link.
Jordan Krall, lead author said, “This represents the first causative evidence of surgery having this kind of systemic response. There are side-effects to any medical treatment and now we are starting to understand these for surgery.”
The researchers suggested the systemic inflammation could be inhibited by the use of NSAIDs thus reducing possible spread.
Chris Woollams, former Oxford University Biochemist and a founder of CANCERactive said, “Any one of our readers could have first read an article linking surgery to cancer spread over a decade ago.
Go to: Overview ’Can surgery Spread cancer?’
"Surgery (even biopsy) can release cancer cells into the blood and lymph systems, the immune system is compromised, growth hormone levels increase to heal the wound and inflammation occurs for a variety of reasons from simple stress of having the operation, to the use of antibiotics. It is a physical and biochemical issue. This is why, in Personal Prescriptions, we frequently tell patients prior to surgery about research on antihistamines and certain NSAIDs that stop the cancer cells being ‘sticky’ and reduce the risk of spread. Our article ’Can surgery spread cancer?’ really is a must-read because it covers practical solutions! You really must prepare yourself for surgery starting at least a few weeks before. It can make a huge difference to your survival times as cancer centers like Johns Hopkins showed us 15 years ago.”
Go to: Can antihistamines increase cancer survival?
Ref: http://news.mit.edu/2018/perioperative-nsaids-may-prevent-early-metastatic-relapse-in-post-surgical-breast-cancer-patients-0411