Modulation of murine neuroblastoma in nude mice by opioid antagonists.
Naltrexone, an opioid antagonist, had an inhibitory effect on the growth of murine S20Y neuroblastoma in BALB/c nude mice. Daily injections of 0.1 mg naltrexone/kg, which invoked a receptor blockade for 6-8 hours/day, resulted in 31-92% delay in latency time prior to tumor expression and a 27-49% increase in mean survival time; the magnitude of antitumor response was governed by tumor burden. Inoculation of neuroblastoma (10(6)-2.5 X 10(4) cells) resulted in measurable tumors in 10-13 days and mean survival times of 30-34 days. Immunoreactive beta-endorphin was detected in tumor tissue (39.7 pg/ mg protein). Receptor binding assays revealed specific saturable binding of ligands related to delta- and kappa-binding sites, but not for the mu-binding site. These results demonstrate that opioid antagonist modulation of neuro-oncogenesis is not dependent on the integrity of T-cell-mediated immunity and suggest the feasibility of utilizing the nude mouse model in exploring the role of endogenous opioids in human cancers.[1]References
- Modulation of murine neuroblastoma in nude mice by opioid antagonists. Zagon, I.S., McLaughlin, P.J. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. (1987) [Pubmed]
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