β-adrenergic Blocker and a COX2 Inhibitor for Prevention of Colorectal Cancer Recurrence

Summary

Colon and rectal cancer is the second most prevalent malignant disease in the western world, causing significant morbidity, mortality, and healthcare sources use. Treating colon and rectal cancer with curative intent generally includes resection of the primary tumor. Despite its crucial role, surgery by itself induce physiological changes resulting in significant immune depression and other physiological perturbations, which may in turn play a significant role in the initiation of new metastases and the progression of pre-existing dormant metastases. The aim of this study is to assess the use of perioperative medical intervention using a combination of a β-adrenergic blocker (Propranolol) and a COX2 inhibitor (Etodolac), in order to attenuate the surgically induced immunosuppression and other physiological perturbations, aiming to reduce the rate of tumor recurrence and distant metastatic disease.

Timeline

Start

2010-01

Primary completion

2017-01

Completion

2017-01

Publications

• Sakis N, Sorski L, Asraf E, Ricon-Becker I, Shaashua L, Haldar R, Shvalbo BB, Shabat-Simon M, Gutman M, Nissan A, Nachmany I, Kent I, Pery R, Pencovich N, Shussman N, Wasserberg N, Reshef A, Quint E, Lishtzinsky YY, Kashtan H, Shabtai M, Brenner B, Sharon E, Allweis T, Shahar N, Eckerling A, Sandbank E, Zmora O, Ben-Eliyahu S. Favorable safety outcomes of a perioperative propranolol and etodolac regimen in cancer patients in four randomized controlled trials. Front Pharmacol. 2026 Apr 20;17:1823113. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2026.1823113. eCollection 2026.
• Hicks BM, Murray LJ, Powe DG, Hughes CM, Cardwell CR. beta-Blocker usage and colorectal cancer mortality: a nested case-control study in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink cohort. Ann Oncol. 2013 Dec;24(12):3100-6. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdt381. Epub 2013 Sep 19.

Drugs

Indications