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Updated: Nov 19, 2025

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Low Doses Naltrexone: The Potential Benefit Effects for its Use in Patients with Cancer

Ricardo David Couto1, Bruno Jose Dumêt Fernandes2

  • 1Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Bahia/UFBA, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

Current Drug Research Reviews
|January 28, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) is an opioid antagonist that inhibits cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth. This review supports LDN as a promising anticancer agent targeting the OGF-OGFr pathway in various cancers.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Immunology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Naltrexone (NTX), an opioid antagonist, inhibits cell proliferation in vivo at low doses.
  • The OGF-OGFr axis is an inhibitory pathway in human cancers, targeted by low-dose naltrexone (LDN).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To provide evidence supporting the role of LDN as an anticancer agent.
  • To highlight LDN's potential in treating various primary cancers.

Main Methods:

  • Review of clinical trials and existing evidence on LDN's anticancer mechanisms.
  • Analysis of LDN's effects on cell signaling and immune modulation.

Main Results:

  • LDN reduces tumor growth by interfering with cell signaling and modifying the immune system.
  • LDN acts as an Opioid Growth Factor receptor (OGFr) antagonist.
  • Promising results observed in clinical trials for bladder, breast, liver, lung, lymph node, and colorectal cancers.

Conclusions:

  • LDN demonstrates significant potential as an anticancer agent.
  • The OGF-OGFr pathway is a viable target for LDN therapy in oncology.
  • Further research and clinical application of LDN for cancer treatment are warranted.
Keywords:
Low dose naltrexoneand treatment.cancernaltrexoneopioid growth factor receptortumor

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