Potential Roles of 5-HT3 Receptor Antagonists in Reducing Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN)

5-HT3 receptor antagonists corresponding to ondansetron, granisetron, tropisetron, and palonosetron are clinically accustomed to treating nausea and emesis in chemotherapy patients. However, current and previous studies reveal novel potentials of those ligands in other diseases involving the nervous system, such as addiction, pruritus, and neurological disorders, such as anxiety, psychosis, nociception, and cognitive function. This review gathers existing studies to support the role of 5-HT3 receptors in CIPN modulation. It has been reported that chemotherapy drugs increase the 5-HT content that binds with the 5-HT3 receptor, which later induces pain. As also shown in pre-clinical and clinical studies that various neuropathic pains could be blocked by the 5-HT3 receptor antagonists, we proposed that 5-HT3 receptor antagonists via 5-HT3 receptors may also inhibit neuropathic pain induced by chemotherapy. Our review suggests that future studies focus more on the 5-HT3 receptor antagonists and their modulation in CIPN to reduce the gap in the current pharmacotherapy for cancer-related pain.