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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Morphine is a common pain relief medication used to treat postoperative patients after chronic cancer pain, but new research shows it may stimulate cancer growth.
In laboratory studies, morphine has been shown to directly boost the growth of tumor cells while inhibiting the immune system to respond. Opiates have also been shown to induce angionesis, or the growth of new blood vessels, and decrease barrier function -- two things that contribute to disease progression.
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In another study involving mice, Methylnaltrexone (MNTX), a drug developed in the 1980s to treat constipation from opiates, was shown to reduce lung cancer cell proliferation by 90 percent.
"If these laboratory studies are confirmed clinically, the selection of anesthetic technique used during the operative procedure and the possible use of opiate antagonists in the perioperative period may be important," Jonathan Moss, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of anesthesiology and critical care at the University of Chicago, was quoted as saying.
SOURCE: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, November 18, 2009, Boston, Mass.
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