• Yasumitsu Nomura, Yoshitaka Kawaraguchi, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Hitoshi Furuya, and Masahiko Kawaguchi.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara, Japan.
• J Anesth. 2014 Apr 1;28(2):298-301.

AbstractOpioids are widely used for perioperative pain management in cancer surgery patients. It has been reported that opioids may alter cancer recurrence or progression; however, there are no published reports regarding the effects of opioids on chemotherapy after cancer surgery. Here we investigated the effects of opioids (morphine or fentanyl) on cell proliferation and 5-fluorouracil sensitivity in the human colon cancer cell line, HCT116. First, we exposed cancer cells to the opioid at various concentrations for 6 or 24 h and evaluated cell proliferation using a MTT assay. Next, to simulate the potential postoperative situation in which anticancer drugs are administered after cancer surgery, cancer cells were incubated with the opioid for 6 or 24 h, followed by treatment with 5-fluorouracil for 48 h. Although fentanyl did not affect cell proliferation, morphine exposure for 6 h enhanced the proliferation. However, sensitivity of HCT116 cells to 5-fluorouracil was not altered in all treatment groups. The current study demonstrated that the opioids commonly used during postoperative periods do not affect 5-fluorouracil sensitivity in human colon cancer HCT116 cells.

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