Anticancer effects of therapeutic opioids

In addition to their use in pain management in terminal cancer patients, therapeutic opioids have been found to be potent inducers of apoptosis in several types of human cancer cells, resulting in the inhibition of tumor growth. However, these growth-inhibitory effects appear not to involve conventional opioid receptor types or signal transduction pathways that mediate their central nervous system (CNS) actions, suggesting the existence of multiple binding sites. This offers the potential of designing opioid drugs targeted toward tumor tissues. While these findings suggest a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of several cancers, they indicate a need for more research on the apoptotic effects of chronic opioid use in neuronal cells. A greater understanding of the comparative effects of opioid drugs in the CNS and peripheral tissues could result in the design of better treatment protocols for their use in the control of cancer pain and growth.

Key words: opioids, apoptosis, nonopioid receptors, antitumor effects

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