Inflammatory Serum Olink Proteomics in Cancer-Related Pain Treated with Opioids: A Pilot Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Opioid analgesia shows substantial interindividual variability in cancer patients, yet the underlying serum inflammatory alterations remain poorly characterized. This study collected plasma samples from 44 cancer pain patients before and after opioid initiation, quantifying 92 immunoinflammation proteins by Olink proteomics. Cross-sectional analysis identified nine differentially expressed proteins between responders and nonresponders. A five-protein nomogram involving TGF-α, EN-RAGE, CASP-8, ST1A1, and IL-10RA demonstrated superior predictive performance for opioid efficacy (AUC 0.902) compared to traditional CRP (AUC 0.625). Longitudinal analysis of this population revealed upregulation of β-NGF, MCP-4, IL-1alpha, and IL-13, and downregulation of CD6, IL-12beta, and SCF after treatment. STRING analysis clustered these proteins into three functional groups: efficacy-related (NGF), bowel-inflammation-related (IL-12/IL-13), and CD6-related. Notably, expression of IL-12β showed a significant efficacy–constipation interaction: constipation completely reversed the efficacy-IL-12 association, and higher IL-12 levels predicted favorable response only in nonconstipated patients. These findings established a pretreatment protein signature for predicting opioid efficacy and revealed systemic immune reprogramming following opioid therapy.