Lidocaine induces apoptosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma | Hacker News Reader

Lidocaine induces apoptosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

cell.com

80 pointsbookofjoe44 comments

Wow. I had HNSCC years ago, had surgery, had it recur a couple years later (same region so I think they didn't get it all the first time), had surgery, had it recur yet again five years later (again same region), had more surgery. (And radiation and a "radiosensitizer" drug.)

I'm now 7 years out from the last time, with no sign of trouble, so my odds are good.

I'm hearted to see a positive development like this.

I wonder if an ultra-bitter agent would activate "bitter taste receptor 14" more than Lidocaine.

I thought the same! Maybe people who loves to eat bitter have a lower rate of cancer than the rest of us? I had been drinking bitter tea for a time. I don’t know if it has any health benefit but it kind of makes you addictive ;) Indeed, it is super bitter, half a leaf is enough for a full glass of hot water. However, after a while you will want to add more and more :D

From a sibling discussion (now dead): apoptosis means programmed cell death, so the title is roughly “Lidocaine induces programmed cell death in head and neck cancer”. Kudos to @QuercusMax.

Quite an interesting development!

Can someone translate this for the layman? Why is this important?

What they are saying here is that Lidocaine, a topical anesthetic has shown the ability to kill cancer cells at the locations specified. Technically they activate self-death in the cells, but it's the same thing, in a practical sense.

Squamous cells: These are flat cells in the upper (outer) part of the epidermis, which are constantly shed as new ones form. When these cells grow out of control, they can develop into squamous cell skin cancer (also called squamous cell carcinoma).

Apoptosis - death of cells.

The current procedure is to simply cut away the cancerous cells. I know, I've had 2 removed. One was on my middle right finger and due to its location, I had to see a surgeon that specialized in hands. Hands are complex and since my career requires full movement (typing), it was important for me to maintain 100% motion, which I do.

When it can't be cut away, it's Chemo, which is almost as bad as the problem.

This would be a great thing if it proves out, reliably. Treating cancers in the nasal passages, for example, is very tough.

Note: I'm not a doctor, I just work with them, and personally experienced these types of cancers this twice in my life, albeit in more easily treatable locations.

> I know, I've had 2 removed. One was on my middle right finger and due to its location, I had to see a surgeon that specialized in hands.

How did you discover these? Did they obviously look like trouble?

They do. They look something like a mole, but not dark. They are commonly a slightly more redish version of your current skin color and it's a literal bump on your skin. One of the things I noticed is they have a bumpy outer appearance. Like the little dots on a basketball. As they grow, they get taller and wider.

It was tiny at first and I just ignored it. About 3-4 months into it, it was larger and didn't appear to be going away, so I did a doc visit. They took a sample and tested it. It was POS for cancerous cells. Next up was treatment, but again, in my case, it was a fairly straight-forward, keep cutting until we get it all.

The finger was a little different in that the mass was large enough that it required a skin graft from my forearm to fully close the removal site.

The skin graft now, is about 1/2 across and about an inch long. I think the reason for this is if they had just closed it, the skin would have been tight and would likely have restricted movement.

Wishing you ongoing excellent health mate.

Thanks! They are the typically the easiest to treat and while they are technically cancer, they are generally a world apart from the serious cancers.

Lidocaine is cheap, FDA-approved, well-understood, and potentially well-tolerated as a therapy for this type of cancer.

When one of the alternatives is traditional chemotherapy, finding anything safer and more pleasant is an achievement.

I have no idea if this will be eventually be used widely in clinical practice, though.

Can it be effectively delivered though?

It's interesting because lidocaine is often used as a local anaesthetic for skin excisions (including of squamous cell carcinomas)

I can get Lidocaine at CVS for 10$ without a prescription.

Damn I guess Freud was right, you can fix almost anything with Cocaine!

Made me think of this gem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP-C88GJKyU

Explains a bit or two about bitter almond, doesn't it?

It is believed that we evolved to taste bitterness because a lot of natural poisons are bitter. When people say something is an acquired taste, they are almost always referring to something bitter.

In many cultures bitter things are commonly eaten so people get past it even in childhood but in ones where they aren’t (like America) you find many adults who don’t enjoy bitter tastes.

I had been drinking bitter tea for quite a time. I don’t know if it has any health benefit but it kind of makes you addictive ;) Indeed, it is super bitter, half a leaf is enough for a full glass of hot water. However, after a while you will want to add more and more :D

I wonder if bitter food and drink can activate the bitter taste receptor as well. Maybe people who loves to eat bitter have a lower rate of cancer than the rest of us?

Cilantro is literally soap. It's akin someone cooking up a nice bar of Dove and serving it to me.

I will accept no arguments otherwise.

I'm a cilantro lover and it's just interesting how different my characterization probably is from yours. I wouldn't classify it as bitter in the least bit. To me, it's the purest taste of "freshness". I don't know how to better explain it.

There is an interesting genetic difference between cilantro-tolerant and cilantro-averse individuals. Similarly, some people smell asparagus in their pee, others don't. (The pee smells the same, in both cases.)

I read a long time ago, I think in Scientific American, that there are two different genes involved here: one that causes your pee to have that distinct asparagus smell or not, and a different gene that determines whether you can smell that particular aroma or not.

So the article divided people into four groups: smelly smellers, smelly non-smellers, non-smelly smellers, and non-smelly non-smellers.

I don't seem to be finding the original article, but here is a related one:

https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/04/12/3189034.h...

It is genetics, in my case.

Part of my healthcare IT journey was as the LIMS Admin for 2 Tox labs, over the course of about 5 years. One of them was working on genetic markers for drug use. For example, of the 7 classes of Proton Pump Inhibitors, at that time, only 1 works for me. The rest either don't work, or work, but with lower efficacy.

The doc, handing it to me said, and I quote, "man, you got some weird genes". lol

To me, it's like licking soap and as far as I'm concerned youre just an agent for Big Cilantro. ;)

Cilantro tastes like how soap smells (to some). Soap actually tastes quite horrid and much much different to how it smells. It's not literally soap.

>I will accept no arguments otherwise.

Take that back. I used to wash my own mouth out with Zest and liked the taste!

New Cilantro-flavor Zest!

This is the word of truth. Cilantro mutants of the world, unite!

We're getting close in our development of a spray that only attacks Cilandro plants. The current issue is the fire. Fire is the only way to truly kill Cilandro (other than nuking it from Orbit), but the fires tend to get out of hand, very, very fast.

As soon as we get over this final hurdle, you'll see the Cilandro of the world, ablaze and good riddance.

FFS, why is there even a type of soap that looks like a plant?

I recommend you avoid vacations to Mexico.

and any place that serves Mexican or Tex-Mex meals.

The fucking water has cilantro in it. lol

And "having a bitter pill to swallow"

so, uh, "freeze" the cancer? wild

what?

Icy-Hot

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