ReviewCurrent treatment options in oncology2020
Opioids and Cancer Mortality.
Review in Current treatment options in oncology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of opioids on tumour growth and metastasis in animal models: a systematic review.British journal of anaesthesia · 2025Pooled it
- The organ-specific modulation of malignant processes by opioids: a systematic review of cell culture studies.British journal of cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Perioperative opioids and survival outcomes in resectable head and neck cancer: A systematic review.Cancer medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Drug-specific effects of anxiety on high-dose oxycodone: age as a modifier for oxycodone response.Behavioural pharmacology · 2026Article
- Disparities and burden of illness among hospitalized cancer patients with opioid dependence.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2026Article
- Metabolic Modulation for Cancer Pain Relief: A Retrospective Pilot Study.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Exploring the Effects of Opioid-Related Drugs on the Clinical Outcome of Prostate Cancer Patients Via Integrated Bioinformatics Analysis.Molecular biotechnology · 2026Article
- Astrocytic LCN2 drives uremic pruritus and morphine-induced pruritus via the GRP/GRPR pathway.Clinical and experimental nephrology · 2025Article
- Concomitant Use of Analgesics and EGFR TKIs in Lung Cancer Patients: Outcomes and Perspectives From a Finnish Retrospective Register-Based Study.Cancer medicine · 2025Article
- Lifetime Pain Management Experiences of Female Breast Cancer Survivors Aged 65+ Years.Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses · 2025Article
- Effects of perioperative anesthetics on the postoperative prognosis of patients undergoing surgery for cervical cancer.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Potential role of cannabis in ameliorating observed racialized disparities in cancer pain management.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2024Article
- Opioids and Immunosuppression: Clinical Evidence, Mechanisms of Action, and Potential Therapies.Palliative medicine reports · 2024Article
- Opioid Risk Mitigation Practices of Interprofessional Oncology Personnel: Results From a Cross-Sectional Survey.The oncologist · 2023Article
- Outlooks on using a mobile health intervention for supportive pain management for children and adolescents with cancer: a qualitative study.BMC nursing · 2023Article
- Morphine stimulates cervical cancer cells and alleviates cytotoxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs via opioid receptor-dependent and -independent mechanisms.Pharmacology research & perspectives · 2022Article
- Chronic Cancer Pain: Opioids within Tumor Microenvironment Affect Neuroinflammation, Tumor and Pain Evolution.Cancers · 2022Review
- Opioids in cancer: The κ‑opioid receptor (Review).Molecular medicine reports · 2022Review
- Agonists Specific for κ-Opioid Receptor Induces Apoptosis of HCC Cells Through Enhanced Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Article
- Dezocine Has the Potential to Regulate the Clinical and Biological Features of Tumors.Drug design, development and therapy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
opinion statementOpioids are the gold standard for the treatment of cancer-related pain. Preclinical studies have associated opioids with cancer progression and overall survival. In mice models, opioids have been shown to possess pro-tumor activity secondary to immunosuppression, migration of tumor cells, increased activity of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors, and angiogenesis leading to tumor progression. In contrast, opioids have also been associated with having antitumor activity by activation of apoptosis and phagocytosis. However, high-quality randomized controlled trials in humans that are focused on the association between opioids and survival in cancer patients are lacking, which underscores the importance of being cautious when interpreting the results of the preclinical studies. Cancer-related pain is complex and multifactorial and may worsen as the disease progresses leading to higher opioid utilization. Moreover, cancer pain by itself has been associated with poor survival. The survival in these advanced cancer patients taking opioids may be more likely to be associated with cancer progression and not the opioid use. Adequate treatment of cancer pain has the potential to improve quality of life and performance status, highlighting the importance of continuing to use opioids to manage pain efficiently. More research is clearly needed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.