ReviewSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2025
The use of antihistamine and antihistamine-like drugs for cancer-related pain: a narrative review.
Review in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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Abstract
purposeAntihistamines, commonly used for their anti-inflammatory properties, also possess analgesic effects, although their use in pain management, particularly cancer-related pain, is not widely recognized. This narrative review aimed to evaluate the efficacy of antihistamines and antihistamine-like drugs in reducing cancer-related pain intensity. Secondary objectives included assessing the impact on analgesic consumption, quality of life, and adverse event profiles among cancer patients.
methodsPubMed and Embase were searched through August 2025 to identify clinical studies on antihistamines for cancer-related pain. Search terms included "antihistamine," "cancer pain," "histamine antagonist," "H1 antagonist," "H1 blocker," and "pain." After deduplication, 310 articles were screened, 46 were assessed for eligibility, and 11 studies were included. These studies were evaluated based on effect sizes and the degree of pain relief provided by antihistamines or antihistamine-like drugs, using various pain measurement methods.
resultsThe most commonly studied conditions were oral mucositis and chemotherapy-related peripheral neuropathy, with doxepin, loratadine, and mirtazapine being the most frequently studied drugs. The 11 studies found that antihistamines helped reduce symptoms to some extent.
conclusionAnalysis of these studies demonstrated meaningful evidence that antihistamine and antihistamine-like drugs may offer some benefit for treating cancer-related pain.
Indexed as
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41272317What 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.