Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36102822›Full record

ArticlePain medicine (Malden, Mass.)2023

Reductions in All-Cause Mortality Associated with the Use of Methylnaltrexone for Opioid-Induced Bowel Disorders: A Pooled Analysis.

Lynn R Webster, Darren Brenner, Robert J Israel, Nancy Stambler, Neal E Slatkin

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 36% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Lynn R WebsterPRA Health Sciences, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8609-9424
Darren BrennerNorthwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Robert J IsraelBausch Health US, LLC, Bridgewater, New Jersey, USA.
Nancy StamblerProgenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a subsidiary of Lantheus Holdings Inc., North Billerica, Massachusetts, USA.
Neal E SlatkinUniversity of California Riverside, School of Medicine, Riverside, California, USA.
Bausch Health (United States) · USNorthwestern University · USPRA Health Sciences · USProgenics Pharmaceuticals (United States) · USUniversity of California, Riverside · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivePreclinical and clinical studies suggest that activation of the µ-opioid receptor may reduce overall survival and increase the risk for all-cause mortality in patients with cancer and noncancer pain. Methylnaltrexone, a selective, peripherally acting µ-opioid receptor antagonist, has demonstrated efficacy for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation. This retrospective analysis of 12 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of methylnaltrexone evaluated the treatment of opioid-induced bowel disorders in patients with advanced illness or noncancer pain.

methodsThe risk of all-cause mortality within 30 days after the last dose of study medication during the double-blind phase was compared between methylnaltrexone and placebo groups. The data were further stratified by cancer vs noncancer, age, gender, and acute vs chronic diagnoses.

resultsPooled data included 2,526 methylnaltrexone-treated patients of which 33 died, and 1,192 placebo-treated patients of which 35 died. The mortality rate was 17.8 deaths/100 person-years of exposure in the methylnaltrexone group and 49.5 deaths/100 person-years of exposure for the placebo group. The all-cause mortality risk was significantly lower among patients receiving methylnaltrexone compared with placebo (hazard ratio: 0.399, 95% confidence interval: 0.25, 0.64; P = .0002), corresponding to a 60% risk reduction. Significant risk reductions were observed for those receiving methylnaltrexone who had cancer or chronic diagnoses. Methylnaltrexone-treated patients had a significantly reduced mortality risk compared with placebo regardless of age or gender.

conclusionsMethylnaltrexone reduced all-cause mortality vs placebo treatment across multiple trials, suggesting methylnaltrexone may confer survival benefits in patients with opioid-induced bowel disorders taking opioids for cancer-related or chronic noncancer pain.

Indexed as

Analgesics, OpioidChronic PainConstipationDouble-Blind MethodHumansNaltrexoneNarcotic AntagonistsQuaternary Ammonium CompoundsRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRetrospective StudiesAnalgesics, OpioidmethylnaltrexoneNaltrexoneNarcotic AntagonistsQuaternary Ammonium CompoundsMethylnaltrexoneMortalityOpioid AnalgesiaSurvival

Identifiers

PMID36102822
PMCPMC9977130
OpenAlexW4295682106

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.