Methadone Can Kill Treatment-Resistant Forms of Leukemia

Methadone – the agent used against opioid addiction – has been found by German researchers to have surprising killing powers against treatment-resistant forms of leukemia cells.

Methadone, developed in Germany in the 1930s, is a low cost agent that acts on opioid receptors, and thus is used as an opioid substitute to treat addiction. Scientists have found that opioid receptors also exist on the surface of some cancer cells for reasons that are not understood. One research group tested the agent in human lung cancer cell lines and found that it can induce cell death.

Thus suggesting that methadone has the potential as a new therapy for leukemia, more specifically in patients whose cancer no longer responds to chemotherapy and radiation.

The said laboratory study finding was published in the August 1 issue of Cancer Research.

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