[HN Gopher] Lidocaine induces apoptosis in head and neck squamou...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Lidocaine induces apoptosis in head and neck squamous cell
       carcinoma
        
       Author : bookofjoe
       Score  : 52 points
       Date   : 2023-11-29 15:38 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.cell.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.cell.com)
        
       | whatshisface wrote:
       | I wonder if an ultra-bitter agent would activate "bitter taste
       | receptor 14" more than Lidocaine.
        
       | goldenkey wrote:
       | Explains a bit or two about bitter almond, doesn't it?
        
         | throwaway958773 wrote:
         | And "having a bitter pill to swallow"
        
         | mattmaroon wrote:
         | 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.
        
           | sonicanatidae wrote:
           | 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.
        
             | labster wrote:
             | This is the word of truth. Cilantro mutants of the world,
             | unite!
        
               | sonicanatidae wrote:
               | 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?
        
             | kbos87 wrote:
             | 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.
        
               | sonicanatidae wrote:
               | To me, it's like licking soap and as far as I'm concerned
               | youre just an agent for Big Cilantro. ;)
        
               | angiosperm wrote:
               | 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.)
        
               | sonicanatidae wrote:
               | 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
        
             | thinkingemote wrote:
             | 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.
        
               | sonicanatidae wrote:
               | >I will accept no arguments otherwise.
        
       | notpushkin wrote:
       | 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!
        
       | DiscourseFan wrote:
       | Damn I guess Freud was right, you _can_ fix almost anything with
       | Cocaine!
        
         | unstatusthequo wrote:
         | Made me think of this gem:
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP-C88GJKyU
        
       | garyrob wrote:
       | 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.
        
       | throaweyprimy wrote:
       | Can someone translate this for the layman? Why is this important?
        
         | smt88 wrote:
         | 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.
        
         | sonicanatidae wrote:
         | 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.
        
           | DarmokJalad1701 wrote:
           | > 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?
        
             | sonicanatidae wrote:
             | 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.
        
         | stonemetal12 wrote:
         | I can get Lidocaine at CVS for 10$ without a prescription.
        
       | kalupa wrote:
       | so, uh, "freeze" the cancer? wild
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2023-11-29 23:02 UTC)