2023-10-16 14:53:12
Title: Paracetamol’s Influence on the Immune System: Implications for Cancer Treatment Revealed
Subtitle: New studies show that paracetamol can have significant effects on the immune system and impact cancer therapy outcomes.
Date: [Insert date]
Paracetamol, a widely-used pain reliever, has long been considered a safe and well-tolerated medication for alleviating mild to moderate pain and fever. However, recent research suggests that its influence on the immune system should not be underestimated, as it can have important clinical implications.
The first indications that paracetamol affects the immune response were discovered in the 1990s. Taking acetaminophen (APAP) has been associated with a weakened immune response to vaccines, especially when administered prophylactically alongside or before vaccination. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends against administering APAP before or during vaccinations. Additionally, studies have shown that taking paracetamol after infection with rhinoviruses reduces levels of neutralizing antibodies and prolongs the excretion of the virus.
To further understand the impact of paracetamol on the immune system, a French research team conducted a study involving 628 test subjects with advanced tumor disease. The study aimed to investigate how taking acetaminophen affects the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICBs) – medications that stimulate the immune system to increase its attack on tumor cells.
The results of the study were alarming. The researchers found that plasma APAP levels at the initiation of checkpoint inhibitor treatment were an independent risk factor for significantly worse patient outcomes. The patients who had detectable levels of APAP in their blood at the start of treatment had significantly worse overall survival rates compared to those who did not.
In one study involving 297 patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, those who had APAP levels in their blood at the start of treatment had a significantly worse overall survival rate after 30 months. Similar results were observed in two additional studies involving patients with various types of malignant tumors. These findings suggest that the presence of APAP and its metabolites in plasma is associated with reduced progression-free survival and overall survival rates in patients undergoing cancer immunotherapy.
The researchers also conducted experiments using mice with colon cancer, which further confirmed the connections between acetaminophen and reduced ICB effectiveness. The mice that received acetaminophen alongside checkpoint inhibitors showed significantly worse response rates compared to those who only received checkpoint inhibitors. This reduced effectiveness was associated with increased infiltration of tumors by regulatory T cells, a type of immune cell associated with immunosuppression.
Furthermore, in experiments involving human immune cells, it was observed that the presence of APAP reduced the effectiveness of checkpoint inhibitors in stimulating the secretion of the proinflammatory cytokine interferon-gamma. Additionally, healthy donors who received APAP displayed an expansion of regulatory T cells and increased expression of co-inhibitory receptors, both of which are associated with strong immunosuppression.
In conclusion, retrospective analysis of three cohort studies has revealed that patients with advanced cancer who took paracetamol during immunotherapy experienced worse clinical outcomes. These findings indicate that paracetamol could potentially suppress T cell-mediated antitumor immunity, leading to decreased effectiveness of cancer treatments. The expansion of regulatory T cells and increased IL-10 levels, observed in the presence of paracetamol, may play a significant role in this outcome.
These results suggest that caution should be exercised when using paracetamol in patients with advanced tumor diseases undergoing treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Further research is needed to determine if similar effects are seen with other antipyretics, if the negative impact is limited to the start of immunotherapy or persists throughout the treatment period, and what the implications are for paracetamol use in relation to tumors in general.
[Insert Image]
Image source: Getty Images, Unsplash]
#Paracetamol #immune #system #fright #DocCheck