ArticleJCO oncology practice2025
Trends in Outpatient Opioid Prescriptions for Cancer Pain Between 2016 and 2021.
Article in JCO oncology practice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 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.
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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
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Impact of Hydrocodone Rescheduling on Pharmaceutical Pain Management in End-of-Life Lung Cancer Patients.Journal of palliative care · 2026Article
- Opioid prescribing patterns at the end of life in an asian advanced cancer cohort: differences by palliative care consultation status.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Differences in cancer pain management between outpatient and inpatient settings: A cross-sectional survey of nursing practices in China.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- A Review on the Management of Symptoms in Patients with Incurable Cancer.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeIncreasing opioid regulations have resulted in reduced opioid prescriptions, including for cancer pain, despite guideline exemptions. Data after 2017 following the Centers for Disease Control's 2016 pain management guidelines are limited on opioid prescribing practices of oncologists. The purpose of this study was to examine the trend in dose of opioids prescribed by oncologists to patients with cancer pain referred to outpatient palliative care between 2016 and 2021.
methodsA single-center, cross-sectional, retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary cancer center's outpatient palliative care clinic including 375 adult patients referred for initial consultation for cancer pain between 2016 and 2021. The main outcome was the trend in prescribed opioid doses, expressed as morphine-equivalent daily dose in mg/day. Additional analyses were conducted to identify predictors of opioid prescriptions.
resultsThe median age (range) was 61 (19-85), 50% were women, 67% were non-Hispanic White, 80% had advanced cancer, and 91% reported proficiency in English. Ninety-five percent had solid tumors, predominantly GI (22%), breast (15%), and genitourinary (14%). From 2016 to 2021, the median dose of opioids decreased from 37.5 to 7.5 (
conclusionDuring the study period, we observed a five-fold decline in opioid dose prescribed by oncologists for cancer pain. This raises concerns for undertreatment of pain in patients with cancer.
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