Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Cimetidine and colorectal cancer — old drug, new use?

Cimetidine antagonizes histamine's effects on some cancers and improves survival when given in the perioperative period.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Adams, W.J. & Morris, D.L. Short course cimetidine and survival with colorectal cancer. Lancet 344, 1768–1769 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Svendsen, L.B. et al. Cimetidine as an adjuvant treatment in colorectal cancer. A double-blind randomised pilot study. Dis. Colon Rectum 38, 514–518 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Matsumoto, S. Cimetidine and survival with colorectal cancer. Lancet 346, 115 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Garcia-Caballero, M., Nunezed, X., Castro, I., Kusche, J. & Vora-Thorbeck, L. Histamine metabolism in human breast and colorectal cancer: Its effects on other host tissues. Adv. Biosciences 89, 273–287 (1993).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Fisher, E.R. et al. Prognostic significance of eosinophils and mast cells in rectal cancer. Findings from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project. Hum. Path. 20, 159–163 (1989).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Jeziorska, M., Haboubi, N.Y., Schofield, P.F. & Wooley, D.E., Mast cell distribution and tumour cell proliferation in colonic carcinoma. Gut 34, S5 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Adams, W., Lawson, J. & Morris, D. Cimetidine inhibits in vivo growth of human colon cancer and reverses histamine stimulated in vitro and in vivo growth. Gut 35, 1632–1636 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hansbrough, J., Zapata-Sirvent, R. & Bender, E. Prevention of alterations in postoperative lymphocyte subpopulations by cimetidine and ibuprofen. Am. J. Surg. 151, 249–255 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Adams, W. et al. Cimetidine preserves immune function after colonic resection for cancer. Aust. NZ J. Surg. 64, 847–852 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Weese, J., Ottery, F. & Emoto, S. Do operations facilitate tumor growth? An experimental model in rats. Surgery 100, 273–277 (1986).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Harrison, J.C., Dean, P.J., El-Zeky, F. & Vander Zwaag, R. From Dukes through Jass: Pathological prognostic indicators in rectal cancer. Hum. Path. 25, 498–495 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Tsunoda, T. et al. In vitro augmentation of the cytotoxic activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and tumour infiltrating lymphocytes by famotidine in cancer patients. Int. J. Immunopharmacol. 14, 75–81 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Uchida, A. Biological significance of autologous tumour-killing activity and its induction therapy. Cancer Immun. Immunother. 37, 75–83 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Links, M. et al. A randomised trial of cimetidine with 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid in metastatic colorectal cancer. Eur. J. Surg. Oncol. (in the press).

  15. Lawson, J., Adams, W. & Morris, D. Cimetidine but not ranitidine inhibits histamine stimulated growth of the human colonic cancer cell line C170. Aust. NZ J. Surg. 64, 361 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Morris, D., Adams, W. Cimetidine and colorectal cancer — old drug, new use?. Nat Med 1, 1243–1244 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1295-1243

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1295-1243

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing