Article
Oncology
Albert Tuca Rodriguez, Miguel Nunez Viejo, Pablo Maradey, Jaume Canal-Sotelo, Placido Guardia Mancilla, Sonia Gutierrez Rivero, Inmaculada Raja Casillas, Maria Herrera Abian, Cristina Lopez Bermudo
Summary: Individualized management of breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) can improve quality of life (QoL) for patients with advanced cancer, with transmucosal fentanyl at low doses being the most common drug used.
SUPPORTIVE CARE IN CANCER
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Sebastiano Mercadante, Russell K. Portenoy
Summary: Breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) is a complex phenomenon that varies between individuals and may change over time. Personalized management requires appropriate assessment of BTcP patterns. The use of opioids, specifically fentanyl products with rapid onset and offset, is recommended. The optimal opioid dose remains a controversial topic, with conflicting recommendations regarding dosing strategies.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Sebastiano Mercadante, Augusto Caraceni, Arturo Cuomo, Massimo Mammucari, Paolo Marchetti, Rocco Domenico Mediati, Silvia Natoli, Giuseppe Tonini
Summary: After one-month follow-up, cancer patients experienced a lower number of breakthrough pain episodes and peak intensity, potentially due to optimization of background analgesia. The principal characteristics of breakthrough pain did not change significantly, highlighting the importance of careful and continuous assessment for patients to alleviate the burden induced by breakthrough pain episodes.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Review
Health Care Sciences & Services
Marco Cascella, Federica Monaco, Davide Nocerino, Elisabetta Chine, Roberta Carpenedo, Paola Picerno, Laura Migliaccio, Angela Armignacco, Giulia Franceschini, Sergio Coluccia, Piergiacomo Di Gennaro, Maura C. Tracey, Cira A. Forte, Mariangela Tafuri, Anna Crispo, Francesco Cutugno, Alessandro Vittori, Silvia Natoli, Arturo Cuomo
Summary: The study conducted a bibliometric network analysis on the use of ROOs for BTcP treatment, revealing trends in published articles, distribution in journals, and main research topics. Most articles focused on the efficacy of ROOs, while abuse and misuse issues were not sufficiently addressed. Additionally, the semantic network analysis showed connections between breakthrough cancer pain, opioids, and cancers.
JOURNAL OF PAIN AND SYMPTOM MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Paula Gonzalez Villarroel, Josep Guma Padro, Gloria Marquina, Noelia Martinez Janez, Emilio Esteban Gonzalez, Antonio Anton, Miguel Berzosa Sanchez, Alberto Rodrigo Caceres, Rafael Lopez-Lopez, Roberto Escala Cornejo, Pablo Borrega Garcia, Raquel Marse Fabregat, Beatriz Castelo Fernandez, Cristina Lopez Bermudo, Carlos Camps
Summary: This study evaluated the quality of life in patients with BTcP in Spanish medical oncology departments. The results showed that individualized BTcP therapy could improve patients' QoL.
Article
Oncology
Raul Hernanz de Lucas, Miriam Nunez Fernandez, Antonio Gomez-Caamano, Rosa Morera Lopez, Inmaculada Fortes de la Torre, Alejandro de la Torre Tomas, Victor Munoz-Garzon, Cristina Lopez Bermudo, Ana Manas Rueda
Summary: The CAVIDIOR study in Spain evaluated the quality of life in patients with breakthrough cancer pain receiving palliative radiation therapy. The study found that with appropriate diagnosis and management in radiation oncology departments, breakthrough cancer pain can be significantly reduced, leading to improvements in quality of life, sleep quality, and caregiver burden.
Article
Oncology
Albert Tuca Rodriguez, Miguel Nunez Viejo, Pablo Maradey, Jaume Canal-Sotelo, Placido Guardia Mancilla, Sonia Gutierrez Rivero, Inmaculada Raja Casillas, Maria Herrera Abian, Cristina Lopez Bermudo
Summary: The study demonstrated that low-dose sublingual fentanyl effectively reduced breakthrough cancer pain in advanced cancer patients in palliative care units in Spain, significantly improving quality of life.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Masoud Hashemi, Alireza Zali, Ebrahim Golmakani, Mohammad Hossein Delshad, Mahdi Shadnoush, Mohammad-Esmaeil Akbari
Summary: The study investigated the efficacy and safety of sublingual fentanyl in treating breakthrough pain in cancer patients in Iran. Results showed that sublingual fentanyl was effective in providing rapid pain relief and was well tolerated. The drug was associated with a high treatment success rate and significant improvements in pain intensity in the study participants.
DARU-JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Tsung-Che Wu, Chih-Hung Hsu, Wei-Zen Sun, Ho-Min Chen, Chih-Peng Lin, Yu-Yun Shao
Summary: The introduction of new strong opioids in Taiwan led to changes in opioid prescription patterns for cancer pain management, aligning more with international guidelines. While the use of strong opioids increased, the use of weak opioids decreased.
LANCET REGIONAL HEALTH-WESTERN PACIFIC
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Marco Cascella, Anna Crispo, Gennaro Esposito, Cira Antonietta Forte, Sergio Coluccia, Giuseppe Porciello, Alfonso Amore, Sabrina Bimonte, Sebastiano Mercadante, Augusto Caraceni, Massimo Mammucari, Paolo Marchetti, Rocco Domenico Mediati, Silvia Natoli, Giuseppe Tonini, Arturo Cuomo
Summary: This paper addresses the management of NP-BTcP through a mathematical approach, offering important clinical insights and providing guidance for identifying diagnostic and therapeutic gaps.
Article
Oncology
Marco Mazzotta, Marco Filetti, Marta Piras, Sebastiano Mercadante, Paolo Marchetti, Raffaele Giusti
Summary: This study aims to identify factors that can predict patients' satisfaction with pain relief for breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP). The results showed that younger age, non metastatic cancer stage, high Karnofsky performance status, absence of anticancer treatment, and high BTcP interference in activities of daily living were positively correlated with dissatisfaction.
CANCER MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shanshan Hu, Xibo Pei, Lunliang Duan, Zhou Zhu, Yanhua Liu, Junyu Chen, Tao Chen, Ping Ji, Qianbing Wan, Jian Wang
Summary: The study introduces a mussel-inspired mucoadhesive film with strong adhesion to wet buccal tissues through physical association and covalent bonding. The film, incorporating polydopamine nanoparticles, improves drug bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy in oral mucositis models. This platform may contribute to the development of tissue adhesives and nanoparticle-based buccal delivery systems.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Sebastiano Mercadante
Summary: Managing cancer pain is challenging, and opioid therapy remains the cornerstone. Individual characteristics should guide the choice of opioids, and optimizing therapy allows for personalized treatment based on patient characteristics and pain syndromes. Adjuvants and interventional procedures are options in specific circumstances.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Stephen Clarke, Belinda E. Butcher, Andrew J. McLachlan, Jeremy D. Henson, David Rutolo, Sean Hall, Luis Vitetta
Summary: This pilot study assessed the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and exploratory analgesic effect of a novel water-soluble cannabis-based medicine in patients with advanced incurable malignancy. The results showed acceptable bioavailability and preliminary evidence of analgesic efficacy, but also reported mild to moderate adverse events.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Francisco Villegas, Veronica Martinez-Borba, Carlos Suso-Ribera, Diana Castilla, Irene Zaragoza, Azucena Garcia-Palacios, Carlos Ferrer
Summary: Using mobile applications for ecological momentary assessment of cancer pain is feasible and acceptable, reducing recall bias and enabling quicker response to adverse events. Clinical alarms prove useful in timely detection and addressing of abnormalities.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
(2021)