Zhou Q, Zhang Z, Long S, Li W, Wang B, Liang N. Opioids in cancer: The κ‑opioid receptor (Review).
Mol Med Rep 2021;
25:44. [PMID:
34878160 PMCID:
PMC8674701 DOI:
10.3892/mmr.2021.12560]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The κ‑opioid receptor (KOR) is one of the primary receptors of opioids and serves a vital role in the regulation of pain, anesthesia, addiction and other pathological and physiological processes. KOR is associated with several types of cancer and may influence cancer progression. It has been proposed that KOR may represent a new tumor molecular marker and provide a novel basis for molecular targeted therapies for cancer. However, the association between KOR and cancer remains to be explored comprehensively. The present review introduces KOR and its association with different types of cancer. Improved understanding of KOR may facilitate development of novel antitumor therapies.
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