ArticlePalliative & supportive care2026
Substance use risk and controlled substances discussions in cancer care: Observations from audio-recorded patient-clinician encounters.
Article in Palliative & supportive care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesPatients with advanced cancer frequently experience pain and psychological distress, often requiring controlled substances such as opioids and benzodiazepines. Although access to these medications increases risk of substance misuse, little is known about how clinicians and patients discuss controlled substance use during cancer care. Understanding these conversations may inform safer prescribing, improve patient outcomes, and support management of substance use disorder (SUD) risk. We aimed to characterize discussions of controlled substance use in oncology visits, including who initiated conversations, clinician responses, and verbalized SUD risk factors.
methodsFive coders reviewed 826 audio-recorded oncology visits from a prior clinical trial. Encounters were coded for substance type, initiator (patient, clinician, both, neither), clinician/patient response style (avoidant, concerned/emotional, engaged, neutral, resistant), and substance misuse risk factors.
resultsMean patient age was 59.5 years; most were female (55.8%), White (81.7%), and married (71.7%). Substance-related content appeared in 14.6% of counters ( SIGNIFICANCE OF
resultsDespite widespread prescribing of controlled substances in oncology, discussions remain infrequent, and clinician responses to SUD-related concerns are often insufficient. These findings highlight opportunities to improve communication and risk management in cancer care.
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