Researchers from the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis have released early findings that suggest that a popular opioid painkiller may have anti-tumor qualities.
Morphine has long been used as a safe and effective painkiller for cancer patients and others requiring relief from severe pain, but this study—which was carried out in the lab with mice, not in a human patient population—showed that frequent morphine use had an inhibitory effect on tumor angiogenesis (growth of blood vessels within a tumor). While researchers didn't suggest morphine could be used as an anti-cancer treatment, they did say their findings supported the continued use of morphine in the management and relief of pain associated with cancer.
CANCER TYPE(S)
Solid tumor cancers
TREATMENT TYPE(S)
Angiogenesis inhibitor (or anti-angiogenic agent)
WHERE WAS THIS RESEARCH PUBLISHED?
The American Journal of Pathology
By Ross Bonander
Citation
Koodie et al, "Morphine suppresses tumor angiogenesis through a HIF1?/p38MAPK pathway." Am J Pathol 2010:177:984-997.
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