HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Opioids and Cancer

Support Forums
>
Prostate Cancer
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 4/19/2019 12:05 PM (GMT -5)
They are definitely in the news these days (opioids) - I wont lie that I have a few left in my medicine cabinet left from the past - they are very tempting to use as I get a really get a good workout or they make me feel great if I pop one in.

They are also prescribed for Cancer Pain. But was wondering after reading some articles that they can actually may cause cancer.

https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/news/2012/march/evidence-mounts-for-link-between-opioids-and-cancer-growth

other than being addictive - would you be concerned from Pca standpoint ?
Posted 4/19/2019 12:40 PM (GMT -5)
Yet another drug SE to consider. "Then two retrospective studies showed that breast or prostate cancer patients who received local or regional anesthesia rather than systemic morphine had improved survival after surgery. More recent epidemiologic studies in colon cancer, however, failed to confirm the relationship." What makes that a bit more interesting is that folks that get regionals or locals are typically- but not always- less healthy. Therefore they would be expected to have worse- rather than improved- survival.

OTOH, if we are in pain too severe for anything but narcotics, we are not likely to do without them. If we did, a few extra years of life might not be a good thing. Of course, we already have 60K per year dying from OD, most who became addicted while taking prescribed narcs. So do they promote cancer as well? Maybe. Still, if we need them, what are we going to do? Obviously the pros and cons of alternative approaches should always be looked into.
Posted 4/19/2019 1:02 PM (GMT -5)

ddyss said...

other than being addictive - would you be concerned from Pca standpoint ?


Someone who takes unprescribed opioids...well, that's a clear demonstration of stupidity, so no, in this case I would not be/am not concerned from a PC standpoint (or any other)...

Oncologists prescribe opioids for managing end-stage pain...so frankly, no, in this case I would not be concerned from a PC standpoint...if I have end-stage cancer pain, I want it effectively managed

Post Edited (Blackjack) : 4/19/2019 1:22:39 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/19/2019 3:51 PM (GMT -5)

ddyss said...
other than being addictive - would you be concerned from Pca standpoint ?

I was.

I've had some access to the stuff myself. I got to reading up on it and was surprised to learn that there's no small correlation between commonly prescribed types of opioids and low testosterone. Usually, when one hears of these types of findings, one tends to think...."Yeah, well.....they've found some small correlation. There's a risk of SE's with any drug. No biggie". But that isn't what I'm finding.

We're talkin'......half the men who took this stuff had testosterone levels below 250. That's enough to take a man's sex drive away. And the correlation/causation is significant.

A link to one study.....

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc5410969/

And a link to a lot of studies. (Seems this is an often overlooked SE that isn't discussed by prescribing physicians)

https://www.google.com/search?q=opioids+and+testosterone+suppression&ie=&oe=

What I wonder is...…"Can it make it go to castration levels?" (Seems I read that at one point. And, to me, then "yes....there could possibly be some effect on PCa".

I'm no "Just Say No" kinda guy. But this stuff, I stay away from it for this very reason.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply