Methylnaltrexone and improved survival

dlb823

This research doesn't single out any one type of metastatic cancer, but what I found most interesting besides the increased survival time for those on methylnaltrexone, is the suggestion that opiate drugs, such as morphine, may actually encourage tumor progression.

http://m.medicalxpress.com/news/2015-10-drug-diges...

Fallleaves

Thanks for posting this dlb823! I am going to add this to the opioids thread I started. There is a movement away from using opioids for various reasons, including the possible cancer promoting aspects, but they are still in wide use. Seems like it might be prudent to add methylnaltrexone any time opioids are used, not just when there are constipation issues. Since it doesn't interfere with the pain relief offered by opioids, it could be a nice insurance policy.

dlb823

Thanks, Fallleaves! Could you give us a link to that opioids thread? This is not the first research I've read suggesting that morphine may play a role in promoting metastasis, so it's a thread I would like to follow. Your idea about using methylnaltrexone prophylactically makes a lot of sense!

Fallleaves

Hi dbl823! I added the article you found to my opioids thread and bumped it up, but here's the link, in case it falls off the map again:

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/73/topics...