Spinal neuronal correlates of tapentadol analgesia in cancer pain: A back-translational approach

Background Pain is a common and highly debilitating complication for cancer patients significantly compromising their quality of life. Cancer-induced bone pain involves a complex interplay of multiple mechanisms including both inflammatory and neuropathic processes and also some unique changes. Strong opioids are a mainstay of treatments but side effects are problematic and can compromise optimal pain control. Tapentadol is a novel dual-action drug, both stimulating inhibitory μ-opioid receptors (MOR) and mediating noradrenaline reuptake inhibition (NRI) leading to activation of the inhibitory α-2 adrenoceptor. It has been demonstrated to treat effectively both acute and chronic pain. We he…