Common Pain Medication Increases Cancer Growth
Opiate painkillers are often used to treat acute and chronic pain. Morphine, especially, is used to relieve the pain of cancer patients. New evidence from two new studies reveals that opiate-based painkillers may actually increase the growth and spread of malignancies.
The idea of opiate drugs contributing to cancer recurrence surfaced about eight years ago from several unrelated clinical studies.
In laboratory studies using cell cultures and mice, scientists found that morphine revved up the multiplication of tumor cells. In addition, it inhibited the immune response and promoted the growth of the blood vessels that help nourish tumors and help them to thrive.
It would seem prudent to block the cancer-fueling ability of opiates by using them for as short a time as possible (or not at all even).
