Testing pain and anti-anxiety medications before breast cancer surgery

This is a phase 2 clinical trial testing whether two medications — ketorolac (a pain reliever) and pregabalin (an anti-anxiety and nerve medication) — given before breast cancer surgery might help protect against cancer recurrence. The research team believes that surgery triggers inflammation and nerve signals that could wake up dormant cancer cells, and these two medications may help block those signals and reduce post-surgery pain.

Breast cancer surgery itself can trigger physical stress and inflammation in the body that may encourage any remaining cancer cells to grow or spread. This trial is designed to understand whether blocking the nerve and inflammatory pathways with these medications during the surgery period could help prevent that, and whether how much body fat a patient has affects how well the treatment works.