A review of a nausea drug that may also help fight cancer
Original title: Neurokinin-1 receptor antagonism as a potential therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment; enhancing anti-tumor efficacy while mitigating treatment-related toxicities.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This looks across many earlier studies rather than running a new one.
This is a summary of where the science is heading, not a new result in patients.
The short version
Researchers looked back at studies on a nerve signal pathway that some cancers use, including glioblastoma: The fastest-growing type of glioma (grade 4). Treatment usually starts soon after diagnosis: surgery first, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary.
What was studied. This is a review paper. The authors gathered what earlier research says about the Substance P and NK1 receptor pathway in cancers such as pancreatic, breast, glioblastoma: The fastest-growing type of glioma (grade 4). Treatment usually starts soon after diagnosis: surgery first, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary, and lung.
What they found. The review says this pathway takes part in cancer spreading, in growing new blood vessels, in cancer cells multiplying, in resisting treatment, and in cell death. It points to aprepitant, a drug that blocks the NK1 receptor. Aprepitant is already approved to treat nausea, and the review says it has shown anticancer and protective effects worth studying further.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Some researchers think blocking this receptor could be paired with existing cancer treatment. The hope is that it makes treatment work better and eases harm from chemotherapy and radiation. Aprepitant is already approved for nausea, so some patients may have taken it for that reason.
What it doesn't mean: This is a review of earlier research, not a new study in patients. No one was treated or tested here. It does not show that aprepitant shrinks brain tumors or helps people live longer. It is not approved as a cancer treatment, and it is not a cure. Anything like this would still need trials in people before it could change care.
Source: PubMed, July 14, 2026 · Read the original
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