Since 1999, the opioid epidemic has claimed the lives of more than half a million people in the United States.1
Laws have been passed to limit the public’s access to opioids, but these laws may inadvertently affect patients who rely on prescription opioids to manage pain, particularly patients with cancer.2,3
“Opioids are often the mainstay of cancer pain management,” said Mamta Bhatnagar, MD, of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Pennsylvania, who noted that pain is common among cancer patients and survivors.
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Several recent studies have explored patterns of opioid use and misuse in these patients.
Opioid Use in Cancer Patients
In a study published earlier this year, Sabik et al analyzed cancer registry data and electronic health records to determine predictors of and trends in opioid prescribing for patients with cancer during the 12 months after diagnosis.4
The sample included 5649 patients with breast cancer, 2083 with colorectal cancer, and 2654 with lung cancer. These diagnoses collectively comprised more than 36% of new cancer cases in the United States in 2020.
The results demonstrated variable opioid prescription rates by cancer type: 35% in breast cancer, 37% in colorectal cancer, and 47% in lung cancer.
Patients with a history of opioid use before diagnosis were up to 5 times more likely to receive opioids after diagnosis, which suggests that “pain among patients with cancer may commonly include non-cancer-related pain,” the authors wrote.
In a study published in 2020, Jairam et al observed higher rates of prescription opioid use among cancer survivors than among patients without cancer.5 However, rates of opioid misuse were comparable between more recent survivors (3.5%), less recent survivors (3.0%), and participants without cancer (4.3%).
A 2020 study by Vitzthum et al revealed opioid abuse or dependence in 2.9% of more than 100,000 cancer survivors who were military veterans.6
Another study from 2020 by Jairam et al revealed trends in opioid overdose among patients with cancer.7 The results showed a 2-fold increase in the incidence of emergency department visits for opioid overdose between 2006 and 2015.
Predictors of Chronic Use and Misuse
“As much as we don’t like to think about it, opioid misuse is real in this vulnerable and sick population,” Dr Bhatnagar said. “Misuse can include taking too much medicine, taking someone else’s medicine, taking it in a different way than prescribed, or taking the medicine to get high.”
Multiple factors have been linked to an increased risk for chronic use and misuse of opioids in the cancer population. Jairam et al found that younger age, alcohol use disorder, and nonopioid drug use disorder were associated with prescription opioid misuse among cancer survivors.5
A study by Check et al revealed predictors of chronic opioid use in the second year after cancer diagnosis, which included younger age, baseline depression, substance use, and Medicaid coverage vs private insurance.8
Factors associated with an opioid-related emergency department visit included comorbid chronic pain, substance use disorder, and mood disorder.7 Head and neck cancer and multiple myeloma were found to be risk factors for overdose.
Dr Bhatnagar noted that several opioid risk assessment tools have been developed. However, they are not well validated in patients with cancer, may be biased against certain populations, and can be difficult to implement in practice.
Preventing and Addressing Opioid Misuse
“Patients with cancer may have high requirements for opioids for medical reasons, but it is certainly possible to work closely with them to minimize misuse and to use even high doses of chronic opioids in an appropriate fashion,” said Henry S. Park, MD, of Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut.
Dr Park noted that even high-risk patients should receive treatment for cancer-related pain when appropriate, and providers should not overlook the potential for opioid misuse in patients with a lower risk profile.
