Abstract
Botulinum neurotoxins exert an analgesic effect through a variety of mechanisms including inhibition of acetylcholine release from neuromuscular junction and release of pain mediators from peripheral nerve endings, dorsal root ganglia, and at the spinal sensory neuron level. Four open-label prospective studies have demonstrated effectiveness of ona-, abo-, and incobotulinum toxins in relieving pain at the site of radiation or surgery for cancer. Furthermore, single-case observations with onabotulinumtoxinA have shown that local intramuscular injection of this toxin can alleviate chronic and disabling local pain in advanced cancer and improve the quality of the end of life state among patients with terminal cancer.
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Jabbari, B. (2015). Botulinum Toxins for the Treatment of Cancer-Related, Postradiation, Postsurgical, and End of Life Pain. In: Botulinum Toxin Treatment of Pain Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2501-8_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2501-8_15
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