ReviewCurrent oncology reports2026
Ketamine Beyond Anaesthesia: Analgesic, Psychiatric, Antitumour, and Immunomodulatory Actions and Their Signalling Mechanisms.
Review in Current oncology reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purpose of reviewTo synthesize current evidence on ketamine for cancer-related pain and its intersecting psychiatric, anti-tumor, and immunomodulatory actions, emphasizing mechanisms, clinical relevance, and uncertainties relevant to oncology. RECENT
findingsKetamine provides analgesia primarily through non-competitive antagonism of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors and additional effects on excitatory, inhibitory, and opioid-related signaling. In patients with refractory cancer pain, it may be a useful adjunct to opioid-based multimodal analgesia and may reduce opioid requirements; however, clinical evidence remains limited and heterogeneous. Its rapid antidepressant effects may be relevant to the reciprocal burden of pain and depressive symptoms in cancer. Preclinical studies report antiproliferative, pro-apoptotic, and ferroptosis-associated effects across several tumor models, involving phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mechanistic target of rapamycin, extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and non-coding RNA-associated pathways. These findings are not uniform: breast cancer models have suggested potentially pro-metastatic effects. Immune effects are likewise dose-, context-, and perioperative-setting dependent, with reports of anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive, and neutral effects. Ketamine is a potentially valuable opioid-sparing adjunct for selected patients with cancer-related pain and may also address comorbid depressive symptoms. Its putative direct anti-tumor and immunomodulatory actions remain predominantly preclinical and context dependent and should not currently guide oncologic treatment decisions. Appropriately powered clinical studies should define patient selection, dose and route, duration, safety, immune consequences, and long-term oncologic outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42909528What 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.