People living with cancer can now triple their survival rates simply by taking cheap painkillers, a new study has revealed.
Common painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen can boost the survival rates from 25% to about 75% especially if cancer contain a single specific gene, which is usually found in one-third of head and neck cancers.
This means that the practice is effective mostly among victims suffering from head and neck cancer.
Researchers at the University of California San Francisco found that the constant use of Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NISAIDs) had an impact on about third of cancer patients.
NISAIDs is a group of drugs that reduce both pain and inflammation in the body. Aspirin and ibuprofen are the common drugs in this category.
However, taking painkillers has no effect for those whose gene has not been altered in the tumor.
“Our results suggest that the use of NSAIDs could significantly improve outcomes for not only head and neck cancer patients, but also patients with other cancers that contained the PIK3CA mutation,” said Dr. Jennifer Grandis, a professor of head and neck surgery.
According to the Independent, the researchers had examined 266 patients from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center whose a tumor was surgically removed. Among the patients who used NISAIDs, 93 percent used aspirin especially from the earlier stage after diagnosis.