ArticleBMC palliative care2022
Methadone switching for refractory cancer pain.
Article in BMC palliative care, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Methadone versus other opioids for refractory malignant bone pain: a pilot randomised controlled study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Trial
- Methadone administration and QT interval prolongation: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Article
- Management of acute cancer-related pain in a patient with opioid use disorder: a case report.Journal of medical case reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Opioid-induced neurotoxicity after opioid conversion to methadone in patients with cancer pain using the stop-and-go method: A multicenter retrospective cohort study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- How Racialized Approaches to Opioid Use Disorder and Opioid Misuse Management Hamper Pharmacoequity for Cancer Pain.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2025Article
- The effect of oral methadone on the QTc interval in cancer pain patients.Pain management · 2025Article
- Methadone for Chronic Pain: A Review of Pharmacology, Efficacy, and Safety Concerns.Health psychology research · 2025Article
- Methadone Conversion Using a 3-Day Switch Strategy in Patients with Cancer on High-Dose Opioids: A Retrospective Study.Pain and therapy · 2024Article
- Management of pain in cancer patients - an update.Ecancermedicalscience · 2024Article
- A better interpretation of data regarding the opioid switching to methadone.BMC palliative care · 2023Article
- Reply to "A better interpretation of data regarding the opioid switching to methadone".BMC palliative care · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMethadone is commonly considered an alternative opioid treatment for refractory cancer pain. This study aims to investigate the efficacy, safety, and cost of methadone in the treatment of refractory cancer pain.
methodsA retrospective study was conducted in patients who used methadone for refractory cancer pain from April 2016 to December 2020 at a cancer specialized hospital. Pain control, evaluated via pain score and breakthrough pain frequency, and adverse events of methadone were compared with analgesic regimens prior to methadone administration. The factors potentially affecting the switching outcome were analyzed via multivariate analysis. Moreover, the cost of pain control was estimated.
resultsNinety patients received methadone for poor pain control (74.4%), intolerable adverse events (10.0%), or both (15.6%) after prior opioid treatments. Sixty-four patients (71.1%) were successfully switched to methadone with median pain score significantly decreased from 4.0 to 2.0 (p < 0.001) and median daily frequency of breakthrough pain from 3.0 to 0.0 (p < 0.001) at a maintained median conversion ratio of 6.3 [interquartile range (IQR): 4.0-10.0] to prior opioid treatment. Similar adverse event profiles of constipation, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness were observed between methadone and prior opioid regimens. The median daily cost of analgesic regimens was significantly reduced from $19.5 (IQR: 12.3-46.2) to $10.8 (IQR: 7.1-18.7) (p < 0.01) after switching to methadone. The 3-day switch method significantly improved the rate of successful switching compared with the stop and go method (odds ratio = 3.37, 95% CI: 1.30-8.76, p = 0.013).
conclusionMethadone is an effective, safe, and cost-saving treatment for patients with refractory cancer pain.
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Registered trials
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.