The mu opioid receptor: A new target for cancer therapy?

Abstract

Mu opioids are among the most widely used drugs for patients with cancer with both acute and chronic pain as well as in the perioperative period. Several retrospective studies have suggested that opioid use might promote tumor progression and as a result negatively impact survival in patients with advanced cancer; however, in the absence of appropriate prospective validation, any changes in recommendations for opioid use are not warranted. In this review, the authors present preclinical and clinical data that support their hypothesis that the mu opioid receptor is a potential target for cancer therapy because of its plausible role in tumor progression. The authors also propose the hypothesis that peripheral opioid antagonists such as methylnaltrexone, which reverses the peripheral effects of mu opioids but maintains centrally mediated analgesia and is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation, can be used to target the mu opioid receptor.

• Authors: Patrick A Singleton, Jonathan Moss, Daniel D Karp, Johnique T Atkins, Filip Janku
• Journal: Cancer (Cancer) Vol. 121 Issue 16 Pg. 2681-8 (Aug 15 2015) ISSN: 1097-0142 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 26043235 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
• Copyright: © 2015 American Cancer Society.

Chemical References

• Narcotic Antagonists
• Quaternary Ammonium Compounds
• Receptors, Opioid, mu
• methylnaltrexone
• Naltrexone

Topics

• Animals
• Humans
• Mice
• Molecular Targeted Therapy
• Naltrexone (analogs & derivatives, therapeutic use)
• Narcotic Antagonists (therapeutic use)
• Neoplasms (drug therapy)
• Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (therapeutic use)
• Receptors, Opioid, mu (genetics, physiology)