Analgesic effects of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, acetaminophen, and morphine in a mouse model of bone cancer pain

• Published in: Journal of anesthesia 2005-08, Vol.19 (3), p.218-224
• Main Authors: Saito, Osamu, Aoe, Tomohiko, Yamamoto, Tatsuo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetaminophen; Acetaminophen - therapeutic use; Analgesics, Non-Narcotic - therapeutic use; Analgesics, Opioid - therapeutic use; Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - therapeutic use; Bone and Bones - pathology; Bone cancer; Bone Neoplasms - complications; Bone Neoplasms - pathology; Cancer pain; Care and treatment; Causes of; Cyclooxygenase 1; Cyclooxygenase 2; Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Diagnosis; Dosage and administration; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug therapy; Drug Therapy, Combination; Male; Membrane Proteins; Mice; Mice, Inbred C3H; Morphine; Morphine - therapeutic use; Neoplasm Transplantation; Pain - drug therapy; Pain - etiology; Pain Measurement - drug effects; Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases - metabolism; Sarcoma - complications; Sarcoma - pathology
• ISSN: 0913-8668; 1438-8359
• DOI: 10.1007/s00540-005-0323-3

Bone metastasis is one of the major causes of cancer-related pain, and not all bone cancer pain can be effectively treated. Recently, a mouse model of bone cancer pain was introduced. To test the analgesic effects of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs on bone cancer pain, the authors examined the effects of oral administration of a cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) selective inhibitor (SC560), a COX-2 selective inhibitor (celecoxib), and a nonselective COX inhibitor (indomethacin) on bone cancer pain and compared these effects to the effect of orally administered acetaminophen and morphine. An animal model of bone cancer pain was induced by injecting osteolytic murine sarcoma cells in the mouse femur. Drugs were administered orally 2 weeks after tumor-cell implantation, and the level of bone cancer pain was assessed 30, 60, 90, 120, and 180 min after drug administration. Oral administration of acetaminophen, indomethacin, and morphine, but not of SC560 or celecoxib, produced an analgesic effect on bone cancer pain. Co-administration of a subanalgesic does of morphine with acetaminophen enhanced the analgesic effect of acetaminophen. These data suggest that bone cancer pain is effectively treated by oral administration of indomethacin, acetaminophen, and morphine and that the co-administration of acetaminophen and an opioid provides a beneficial effect when treating of bone cancer pain.