ROLE OF ANTI-HISTAMINE IN MELANOMA
A serious type of skin cancer melanoma also known as melanocytes
releases melanin. It may also form rarely in our eyes as well as inside
our body, for example, nose and throat. The exact cause of melanoma is
unknown, but it may increase the risk of melanoma if the individual is
exposed to UV sunlight or any lamp. It occurs mostly in people under the
age of 40, mainly in women. The melanoma signs and symptoms such as a
change in an existing mole or the development of any fresh pigmentation
. In a research letter published in the journal allergy, Investigator
reported that ordinary allergy medication loratadine and desloratadine
can be linked with improved survival in patients with melanoma .
Previously it was found that similar antihistamines have shown survival
gains and increasing evidence of H1 antihistamines inhibiting malignant
growth and encouraging cell death in several tumors. The same concerns
were shown for malignant melanoma, hence researcher investigated six
anti-histamines namely, cetirizine, loratadine, desloratadine,
clemastine, fexofenadine and ebastine . From big registers i.e. cancer
register, drug register, and causality register information were matched
of Swedish patients who were diagnosed with melanoma in 2006-2014 (n=
24,462), among these 1,253 were antihistamine users. A total of 395
patients were taking desloratadine, 324 patients taking cetirizine, and
loratadine patients taking 251 whereas other anti-histamine were given
to a few individuals. The follow-up studies were finished in December
2018, after observation researchers found a link between improved
survival for malignant melanoma patients taking desloratadine and
loratadine between the age group of 65 and older patients not using
antihistamine medication. These can also help in advanced stages of
cancer as the verdicts are stimulating, moreover, the medication has no
practical side effects. To understand the mechanism of action, suitable
dose for humans, and optimum treatment period the investigator team is
currently planning animal studies and randomized studies .