Apparent involvement of opioid peptides in stress-induced enhancement of tumor growth

J. W. Lewis, Y. Shavit, G. W. Terman, L. R. Nelson, R. P. Gale, J. C. Liebeskind*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

102 Scopus citations

Abstract

Exposure to stress has been associated with alterations in both immune function and tumor development in man and laboratory animals. In the present study, we investigated the effect of a particular type of inescapable footshock stress, known to cause an opioid mediated form of analgesia, on survival time of female Fischer 344 rats injected with a mammary ascites tumor. Rats subjected to inescapable footshock manifested an enhanced tumor growth indicated by a decreased survival time and decreased percent survival. This tumor enhancing effect of stress was prevented by the opiate antagonist, naltrexone, suggesting a role for endogenous opioid peptides in this process. In the absence of stress, naltrexone did not affect tumor growth.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)635-638
Number of pages4
JournalPeptides
Volume4
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 1983
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Cancer
  • Chronic naltrexone
  • Mammary adenocarcinoma
  • Naltrexone
  • Opioid peptides
  • Stress

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