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Last year, Medical News Today reported on a study by researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland, which found that a compound in antihistamines may reduce bad memories. It is not only cancer prevention that antihistamines may be useful for. These new results suggest that we must be open-minded about seemingly distantly related immune mechanisms to examine.” It is certainly not yet time to prophylactically administer antihistamines for cancer prevention, but the more we learn about myeloid-derived suppressor cells, the more interesting these cells and their products become as immunotherapy targets in cancer. “Antihistamines may be one of the most commonly used over-the-counter drugs, but this report shows that we still have much to learn about their potential benefits. They found that those with allergies – who usually have a higher release of histamine – had higher levels of myeloid-derived suppressor cells circulating in their blood.Īccording to the researchers, their study shows that antihistamines should be further investigated as a drug to target myeloid-derived suppressor cells.Ĭommenting on the team’s findings, John Werry, PhD, deputy editor of The Journal of Leukocyte Biology, says: The team also analyzed the blood of patients with and without allergies.

However, in the mice with tumors, the antihistamine not only reversed the effects of the cells, but also reversed the increased tumor growth that the cells normally trigger. The researchers found that in the allergic mice, the antihistamines reversed the effects of the myeloid-derived suppressor cells. The mice with the tumors were also injected with the cells but were only treated with the antihistamine cimetidine.

The allergic mice were then injected with myeloid-derived suppressor cells and treated with one of two antihistamines – cetirizine or cimetidine. Share on Pinterest Could antihistamines also help fight cancer? Researchers found they reversed the tumor-enhancing effects of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in mice.

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