Naltrexone and cancer

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Naltrexone stops/slows renal cancer progression..in 60 % cases.. at

the very least increases lymphocyte levels.

Yash

Neuroendocrinol Lett. 2002 Jun;23(3):255-8. Related Articles,

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A new neuroimmunotherapeutic strategy of subcutaneous low-dose

interleukin-2 plus the long-acting opioid antagonist naltrexone in

metastatic cancer patients progressing on interleukin-2 alone.

Lissoni P, Malugani F, Bordin V, Conti A, Maestroni G, Tancini G.

Division of Radiation Oncology, S. Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Milan,

Italy.

OBJECTIVES: Recent advances in knowledge of Psychoneuroimmunology

have shown that several neuroactive substances, including

neurohormones and neuropeptides, may exert immunomodulatory effects.

However, despite the great variety of potential neuroimmune

interactions, at present we may recognize two major neuroendocrine

systems exerting a physiological neuroimmunomodulatory function,

consisting of the pineal gland and the brain opioid system, provided

by immunostimulatory and immunosuppressive effects, respectively.

Recent in human studies have demonstrated the possibility to amplify

the biological activity of IL-2, the major anticancer cytokine, by

pineal indoles. MATERIALS & METHODS: The present study was carried

out to draw some preliminary in human results on the possible

immunomodulatory effects of the inhibition of the brain opioid

activity by a long-acting opioid antagonist, naltrexone (NTX). The

study was performed in 10 metastatic renal cell cancer patients, who

had progressed on a previous immunotherapeutic cycle with IL-2

alone. Patients were treated with the same doses of IL-2 (6 million

lU/day subcutaneously for 6 days/week for 4 weeks) plus an oral

administration of NTX at a dose of 100 mg every 2 days. RESULTS: The

clinical response consisted of a partial response in 1 and a stable

disease in 5 patients, whereas the other 4 patients progressed.

Therefore, the percent of non-progressive disease was 6/10 (60%).

Moreover, mean lymphocyte increase achieved during IL-2 plus NTX was

significantly higher (P<0.05) than that obtained during the previous

treatment with IL-2 alone. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that a

blockade of the brain opioid system, which plays a physiological

immunosuppressive role, may improve the anticancer effects of IL-2

in humans.