Scientists Developing New Drugs to Treat Cancer Pain

Early experiments are being done to develop new drugs that have the potential to relieve cancer pain without causing some of the side effects associated with current pain treatments.

Researchers at the University of Leicester and the University of Ferrara, Italy, are leading the experiments through a collaboration. The research is being done at the University of Leicester and is being funded by the Leicestershire and Rutland charity Hope Against Cancer.

Professors David Lambert and David Rowbotham at the University of Leicester, as well as Doctors Guerrini, Calo and Professor Salvador from the University if Ferrara are some of the researchers involved.

"This work is still at a very early stage but has the potential to change the way we think about making drugs for pain related issues," said Lambert, in a press release.

The drugs being developed are designed to produce pain relief by acting at two targets simultaneously, in an effort to effectively relive pain with less tolerance.

Tolerance to strong painkillers like morphine involves complicated biological processes, aspects of which still remain questionable, said Nikolaos Dietis, a PhD research student who is currently working on the project, in a press release.

“Our research may provide some answers by designing new drugs that have multiple roles. We are now studying these drugs to see what they do in the long-term," he said.