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Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts from Mouse Mammary Tumors as Tools for Molecular and Computational Studies
Published on: July 3, 2025
Cocaine modulates cytokine and enhances tumor growth through sigma receptors
Brian Gardner1, Li X Zhu, Michael D Roth
1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. bgardner@mednet.ucla.edu
Abstract:
Sigma receptors are intracellular receptors that interact with a variety of psychotropic ligands, including cocaine. Administration of cocaine to mice promoted the in vivo growth of a syngeneic lung cancer cell line and identical effects were observed with PRE 084, a selective sigma(1) receptor agonist. Increased tumor growth was accompanied by an increase in IL-10 and a decrease in IFN-gamma production in splenocytes and at the tumor site. The tumor-promoting effects produced by both cocaine and PRE 084 were abrogated by administration of specific antibodies to IL-10, or by administration of a sigma(1) receptor antagonist. We conclude that sigma(1) receptor ligands, including cocaine, augment tumor growth via a cytokine-dependent, receptor-mediated mechanism that involves regulation of T helper 1/T helper 2 cytokine balance.
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