Tamara King's research on cancer pain featured in Bangor Daily News

Research on cancer pain being conducted by Tamara King, Ph.D., assistant professor of biomedical sciences at the 51Æ·²èCollege of Osteopathic Medicine and the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, was the focus of a feature story and video by the Bangor Daily News July 17, 2012.

Most treatments for cancer pain come with side effects nearly as intolerable as the cancer pain. King is engaged in groundbreaking work she hopes will alleviate future cancer patients' pain without the common side effects of opioids, such as nausea and decreased mental acuity.

King has been awarded a two-year grant worth nearly $140,000 by the Maine Cancer Foundation to continue work developing an antibody that could target the interleukin-6 — or IL-6 — molecules responsible in large part for the bone pain felt during cancer and render them inactive.

King said the antibody is being developed to control pain sensations in cancer patients, but 51Æ·²èresearchers may discover the drug diminishes or blocks the spread of cancer as well.

51Æ·²è the 51Æ·²è

The 51Æ·²è is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.