Celecoxib, a drug used to treat arthritis, may emerge as a potent chemopreventive agent for lung cancer, U.S. researchers say. Dr. Jenny Mao, a professor of medicine at the University of New Mexico and section chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the New Mexico VA Health System, says celecoxib, a COX-2 inhibitor, was used among patients who were former smokers. The study found a significant benefit in bronchial health. The findings follow a previous report published in Cancer Prevention Research that showed a similar effect among former smokers and current smokers. "Taken together, these findings strongly suggest that celecoxib can be used as a chemopreventive agent in these high-risk groups," Mao says in a statement. However, Mao cautioned that both the current study, published in Cancer Prevention Research, and last year's study were phase II trials, and that large phase III trials are still needed to confirm the findings. "The oncology community does not have a good treatment for lung cancer. Unless it is caught in the earliest stages, the five-year survival is only about 15 percent," says J. Jack Lee of The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the statistical editor of Cancer Prevention Research. "The best way is to intercept at the earliest stages and try to reverse the processes that can lead to cancer. These studies suggest celecoxib may be a tool to do that."