Cancer Drugs Instead of Opioid Painkillers for Chronic Pain Treatment

Frequently preferred in pain treatment are powerful medicines called opioid or narcotic painkillers. Available with green and red prescriptions, these medicines are highly effective, and modern technology has improved many of their side effects. Nevertheless, alongside a low risk of addiction, they have side effects such as constipation and nausea . The study published in August 2017, discussed in this article, discovered that some cancer drugs could replace opioid painkillers in chronic pain treatment.

The research attempted to determine whether the EGFR receptor has any role in pain sensation.

According to the Research Results;

• EGFR was discovered to play an important role in pain. Mice were used in experiments observing that the relationship between the Epiregulin protein and EGF receptor played an important role in pain.
• In particular, EGFR mutation-positive lung cancer treatments that inhibit the EGFR receptor were found effective in treating chronic pain and inflammation when administered to mouse models.

What Does This Study Mean Clinically?

• Because of its role in cancer, EGFR is one of the most extensively studied molecules and drug-development targets in cancer research. This study is the first to explain the relationship between EGFR and pain as its distinctive feature.
• It must be emphasized that this study is only the discovery of a pain-related receptor . Laboratory studies have shown that cancer drugs targeting EGFR may be effective for pain treatment. Future studies will determine whether they truly work for chronic pain in humans. These drugs could also be redesigned to develop more effective pain treatments.

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