Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0344307 (analgesia)
 28,200 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Bone metastases represent a significant tumor-related complication affecting many breast cancer patients. The resulting bone destruction or osteolysis that frequently accompanies metastatic bone disease results in considerable morbidity for patients including a high rate of skeletal complications, severe pain, and a reduced quality of life. Traditionally, the treatment of metastatic bone disease has relied heavily on the use of multidisciplinary therapies, such as radiotherapy in combination with systemic treatment, supported by analgesia. Bisphosphonates are a class of pyrophosphate analogs that actively inhibit bone resorption. As a result, their clinical application has expanded greatly over the past 5 to 10 years and, in addition to being the treatment of choice for hypercalcemia of malignancy, they have been shown to be effective in reducing the skeletal morbidity associated with metastatic breast cancer. Furthermore, recent data from animal and in vitro studies suggest that bisphosphonates may actually have an antiapoptotic and antiproliferative effect not only on osteoclasts, but also on macrophages and tumor cells. Recent improvements in our understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms in breast cancer, the diagnosis of the disease itself, and the development of new systemic therapies has led to improved survival benefit for many breast cancer patients. However, because survival duration has also been related to the risk of developing skeletal complications, bisphosphonates may play an ever greater role in the management and prevention of skeletal morbidity in the future.
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PMID:Factors influencing the role of bisphosphonates in breast cancer management. 1154 75

A 31-year-old patient of post-surgical recurrent buccal carcinoma (post-chemo and radiotherapy) on multimodal analgesia with methadone, paracetamol and gabapentin presented to pain clinic with occasional bleeding from tumor area and incidental hypercalcemia. The hypercalcemia was attributed to adrenal insufficiency due to methadone, with no other obvious reasons identified for hypercalcemia or adrenal insufficiency. The patient was managed with the change of opioid, regular aseptic wound dressings and management of hypercalcemia with hydration, calcitonin and steroid therapy. Hypercalcemia in a cancer patient can have multiple other causes like hypercalcemia of malignancy and primary or secondary parathyroid carcinoma. A strong clinical suspicion and appropriate battery of tests may be required to arrive at the diagnosis. Prompt management, including identification and management of the primary pathology along with aggressive hydration with hormonal therapy, may prove to be life-saving.
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PMID:Hypercalcemia due to methadone-induced adrenal insufficiency in a case of oral cancer. 3311 14