Can common heartburn medications boost the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs?A new study by Italian researchers suggests that may be the case -- at least with laboratory animals. But, the scientists acknowledge, much more research is needed to prove whether proton pump inhibitors would be effective additions to cancer-fighting arsenals.Still, the researchers suggest that doctors and drug companies should take into account how “pre-treating” tumors with proton pump inhibitors might boost the effectiveness of certain cancer treatments.The study appears in the Nov. 17 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
