Moderate to severe
cancer pain treatment in children is based on the use of weak and strong
opioids. Pharmacogenetics play a central role in developing personalized
pain therapies, as well as avoiding treatment failure and/or intolerable
adverse drug reactions. This observational study aimed to investigate the association between
IL-6,
IL-8, and TNFα genetic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and response to
opioid therapy in a cohort of pediatric
cancer patients.
Pain intensity before treatment (PIt0) significantly differed according to
IL-6 rs1800797 SNP, with a higher PI for A/G and G/G individuals (p = 0.017), who required a higher dose of
opioids (p = 0.047). Moreover, compared to G/G subjects, heterozygous or homozygous individuals for the A allele of
IL-6 rs1800797 SNP had a lower risk of having a PIt0 > 4. Dose24h and Dosetot were both higher in G/G individuals for TNFα rs1800629 (p = 0.010 and p = 0.031, respectively), while risk of having a PIt0 > 4 and a ∆VAS > 2 was higher for G/G subjects for
IL-6 rs1800795 SNP compared to carriers of the C allele. No statistically significant association between genotypes and safety outcomes was found. Thus,
IL-6 and TNFα SNPs could be potential markers of baseline
pain intensity and
opioid dose requirements in pediatric
cancer patients.