Could over-the-counter antihistamines improve immuno-oncology results?

Checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of cancer is a fast developing and promising therapy, however, many cancer patients currently do not, or cannot, benefit from its full potential. To combat this issue, researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (TX, USA) have begun research on the relationship between cancer and allergy responses and what this could mean for checkpoint inhibitor treatment. This study, published in Cancer Cell, analyzed the use of over-the-counter second-generation antihistamines during immunotherapy. This included up to 40 commonly found medications such as, cetirizine (Zyrtec), loratadine (Claritin), fexofenadine (Allegra), antacids and anti-inflammatories. The reason...