Source: DGNews  |  Posted 9 years ago

By Peggy Peck
Special to DG News

SAN DIEGO, CA -- August 20, 2002 -- Subarachnoid chromaffin cell allograft is a safe and effective analgesic in patients with terminal cancer pain, according to a small study presented August 18th at the 10th World Congress on Pain (WCP).

Dr. Zhi-jian Fu and colleagues from the pain management clinic, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University Hospital in Jinan, China, recruited 10 patients with intractable cancer pain despite traditional pain therapy.

The patients were randomly assigned to active treatment or control group. Four patients received active treatment with 2 mL of a suspension of chromaffin cells, which had been cultured in vitro for three days, injected into the subarachnoid space through a lumbar puncture. The six patients in the control group received the same amount of cell-free culture solution injected intrathecally. Both groups received continuous opioids after injections.

The intensity of pain was measured by visual analog scale (VAS). Following transplantation, VAS, opioid dose, and catecholamine and enkephalin concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were measured and recorded. Immune function was measured before and after transplantation.

The VAS scores declined markedly in both the active treatment and the control group. The dose of opioid in the treatment group gradually declined following transplantation while it remained unchanged in the control group.

Catecholamine levels in the CSF increased significantly, but the enkephalin levels greatly decreased in both groups (p<0.01). Changes in serum levels of antibodies, complement proteins, and T-lymphocytes were all within the normal range in both groups.

Immune function of the patients remained stable with immunosuppressants, indicating that subarachnoid chromaffin cell allograft is both safe and effective in patients with terminal cancer pain.