Lidocaine Has Anticancer Properties; Learn How This Local Anesthetic Works [Study]

Researchers discovered a potential cancer treatment from a surprising source. Lidocaine, a local anesthetic agent used for local and topical anesthesia, reportedly has anticancer properties.

Lidocaine: A Potential Cancer Treatment

Cancer patients may find lidocaine helpful. The anesthetic agent frequently applied topically as an injection or cream, blocks signals from reaching the skin's nerve terminals.

However, a new study indicates that the popular anesthetic may have anticancer properties.

Lidocaine has a very bitter taste because it stimulates the T2R14 taste receptor. Furthermore, it has been shown that a wide range of cancer cells, including those in the mouth and throat, have high receptor expression levels. Thus, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania hypothesized that lidocaine could potentially interact with cancer cells through the receptor.

"We were surprised to find that lidocaine targets the one receptor that happened to be most highly expressed across cancers," study lead Robert Lee, an assistant professor of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, said.

In earlier studies, the group discovered that cancer cells' activation of T2R14 receptors starts a process that results in regulated cell death. In a recent study, researchers found that exposing cancer cells to lidocaine can also initiate the process, beginning a series of biochemical signals that ultimately result in cell death.

The study's co-lead author and assistant professor Ryan Carey clarified that they do not suggest lidocaine could treat cancer. However, they were shocked that it could get an edge on the treatment for head and neck cancer.

Since the medicine is easily administered around or near accessible oral cancers, it presents a desirable option. Also, Carey, a head and neck surgeon, said they use it all the time and can attest to its safety and availability, which makes lidocaine a great addition to possible head and neck cancer care.

Cancer Cell Kill Switch Discovered

Another recent study revealed a novel discovery that could potentially revolutionize cancer treatment. Researchers at the University of California, Davis (UCD) and Indiana University had figured out how to open doors at the core of cancer tumors to allow medical administration.

The technique works by detonating a "timer bomb" on the lining cells of the tumor connected with a blood artery. Modified immune cells cannot easily infiltrate the cancer cell to fight it until these vessels are opened. These blood arteries control the flow of blood into the tumor. These cells have a timed bomb called Fas (or CD95) that functions as the "death" receptor.

Until recently, the researchers said, Fas was "undervalued in cancer immunotherapy." At present, not a single Fas antibody has advanced to clinical testing.

When the antibody binds this epitope-specific area of the death receptor, it acts as the cell's kill switch. Once this immune checkpoint is broken, other cancer treatments, like CAR-T therapy, can reach more of their targets, which are grouped and hidden within the tumor.

The ability of CAR-T cells to target these receptor areas on bystander cells, which are typically inaccessible to immune cells and lack the distinguishable antigens that tumor cells are usually targeted with, could significantly improve the therapeutic's ability to treat malignancies.

The researcher noted that the study "sets the stage to develop antibodies that activate Fas, selectively kill tumor cells, and potentially support CAR-T-cell therapy in solid tumors."

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