The Naproxen Challenge

Some days I know in advance what I will be blogging about.  And some days, it’s a complete surprise.  Today, it’s a surprise.  But it’s also related to yesterday’s article on fenbendazole.

One of the very little tidbits I got from Dr. Steve’s class a few years back was that while most NSAIDs will reduce a fever, naproxen sodium (Aleve) will not—unless the fever is due to cancer.  And while nothing more was said, I did have that comment in my notes, which I review every once in a while.

And then while researching and writing about fenbendazole, and lamenting that we wouldn’t have any cool lab tests or technology to diagnose cancers when our society collapses, I happened to review those notes.  So today seems to be a good day to learn about the naproxen challenge, how it relates to fever, and how it can be used as a diagnostic tool.[1]

Fevers most often occur as the body fights an infection, whether viral or bacterial in origin.  NSAIDs like Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, and aspirin, are taken to reduce a fever, and they also work to reduce inflammation and pain.  However, as noted above, the NSAID naproxen sodium will not reduce a fever unless that fever is due to cancer.  And that is where things get interesting.

As noted in yesterday’s article, fenbendazole has been found to be remarkably effective in treating some cancers, both in pets and people.  As also noted, in a grid-down situation, we probably won’t have advanced medical technology to identify and diagnose cancers.  However, naproxen can help identify the presence of cancer. 

The diagnostic criteria for a fever due to cancer:

·       Temperature of over 37.8°C at least once each day

·       Duration of fever over two weeks

·       Lack of evidence of infection on:

o   Physical examination

o   Laboratory examination, e.g. sputum smears or cultures, cultures of blood, urine, stool, bone marrow, spinal fluid, pleural fluid, and discharge from local lesions

o   Imaging studies e.g. chest radiograph and CT scans of the head, abdomen, and pelvis

·       Absence of allergic mechanisms e.g. drug allergy, transfusion reaction, and radiation or chemotherapeutic drug reaction

·       Lack of response of fever to an empiric, adequate antibiotic therapy for at least seven days

·       Prompt, complete lysis of fever by the naproxen test (375 mg every 12 hours for 3 days) with sustained normal temperature while receiving naproxen[2]

We probably won’t have access to the laboratory tests and technology referenced in the list above.  A doctor is going to be limited to physical examination and symptoms that the patient reports.  Antibiotics likely wouldn’t be used without a reasonable guess as to what the infection is.  But if the fever completely goes away while taking naproxen, and then returns when not taking it, that could point to cancer.

What I find extremely interesting (and this is my own observation, it’s not coming from any other source) is that many of the cancers most associated with neoplastic fever (fever due to cancer) are the same ones that have been effectively treated with fenbendazole, which are bolded below.

Atrial myxoma

Castleman's disease

Glioblastoma multiforme

Hepatocellular carcinoma

Leukemia

Lymphoma

Ovarian

Renal cell carcinoma

The Fenbendazole.org site features a graphic that shows many more types of cancer successfully treated with fenbendazole.  Unfortunately, there hasn’t been research conducted on all those forms of cancer and whether the naproxen challenge will work on them.  That’s something for you to research and discuss with your doctor. 

Links to related posts:

Fenbendazole

Mebendazole

Aleve

---

[1] H Zhang, et al., Naproxen for the treatment of neoplastic fever: A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis, Medicine (Baltimore), May 2019, Vol 22, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31145329/ (accessed 11 April 2022).

 

[2] Zell JA, Chang JC. Neoplastic fever: a neglected paraneoplastic syndrome. Support Care Cancer 2005, Vol 13, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15864658/ (accessed 11 April 2022).