ReviewCurrent treatment options in oncology2023
Effects of Opioids on Immune and Endocrine Function in Patients with Cancer Pain.
Review in Current treatment options in oncology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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
19 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Monotherapy vs. combination paracetamol and tramadol for cancer-related pain in the emergency department: a comparative study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Trial
- Opioids and immunosuppression in patients with cancer.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Review
- Opioids to Treat Chronic Pain in the Older Adult: A Clinical Consensus to Guarantee Safety and Avoid Adverse Events.Drugs & aging · 2026Review
- Cancer pain.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026Review
- A novel inflammatory-nutritional nomogram for predicting survival after minimally invasive surgery for spinal metastases: a comparison with the Katagiri and SORG systems.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- High-Dose Tramadol Enhances the Proliferative and Invasive Potential of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma in Mice Through Microenvironmental Alteration.Pain research & management · 2026Article
- Tramadol use is associated with reduced 28-day mortality in ICU patients after cardiac surgery: a retrospective study based on the MIMIC-IV database.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Metabolic Modulation for Cancer Pain Relief: A Retrospective Pilot Study.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Research progress on the impact of opioids on the tumor immune microenvironment (Review).Molecular and clinical oncology · 2025Review
- Effects of intraoperative non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on early postoperative pulmonary complications following lung resection: a retrospective propensity score-matched study.Journal of thoracic disease · 2025Article
- Review
- The Rise of Fentanyl: Molecular Aspects and Forensic Investigations.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Novel Strategies for the Treatment of Lung Cancer: An In-depth Analysis of the Use of Immunotherapy, Precision Medicine, and Artificial Intelligence to Improve Prognoses.Current medicinal chemistry · 2025Review
- Effects of anesthetics on development of gynecological cancer.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Review
- Immune response and cytokine profiles in post-laminectomy pain syndrome: comparative analysis after treatment with intrathecal opioids, oral opioids, and non-opioid therapies.Inflammopharmacology · 2024Article
- The effects of opioid tapering on select endocrine measures in men and women with head and neck cancer-a longitudinal 12-month study.Pain reports · 2024Article
- The effectiveness of acupuncture in cancer pain treatment.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Review
- The relationship between anesthesia, surgery and postoperative immune function in cancer patients: a review.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Causal effects and immune cell mediators between prescription analgesic use and risk of infectious diseases: a Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
opinion statementOpioids are an important treatment in managing cancer pain. Uncontrolled pain can be detrimental to function and quality of life. Common adverse effects of opioids such as sedation, constipation and nausea are well recognised, but opioid effects on the endocrine and immune systems are less apparent. The evidence for the immunomodulatory effects of opioids suggest that some opioids might be immunosuppressive and that their use might be associated with reduced survival and increased rates of infection in patients with cancer. However, the quality of this evidence is limited. Opioid-induced endocrinopathies, in particular opioid-induced hypogonadism, may also impact cancer survival and impair quality of life. But again, evidence in patients with cancer is limited, especially with regard to their management. There are some data that different opioids influence immune and endocrine function with varying outcomes. For example, some opioids, such as tramadol and buprenorphine, demonstrate immune-sparing qualities when compared to others. However, most of this data is preclinical and without adequate clinical correlation; thus, no opioid can currently be recommended over another in this context. Higher opioid doses might have more effect on immune and endocrine function. Ultimately, it is prudent to use the lowest effective dose to control the cancer pain. Clinical presentations of opioid-induced endocrinopathies should be considered in patients with cancer and assessed for, particularly in long-term opioid users. Hormone replacement therapies may be considered where appropriate with support from endocrinology specialists.
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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.