Opioid misuse in oncology pain patients

The problem of therapeutic opioid misuse largely affects patients who need opioids to treat chronic pain conditions. Opioid misuse is rarely an overt clinical problem during end of life or acute pain treatment. Misuse attaches a stigma to opioid use, and makes many patients and prescribers reluctant to use these uniquely effective drugs, even when misuse is unlikely. Cancer was once an explosive, typically terminal disease and became the prototype for end-of-life opioid pain treatment. However, cancer is no longer such an explosive disease, and many cancer sufferers can now expect to have a prolonged, even normal, lifespan. They may need pain treatment, but this treatment should not be modeled on palliative care paradigms. This article describes the underlying mechanisms of opioid dependence and its progression to addiction, and suggests a cautious approach to opioid treatment of chronic cancer pain that aims to minimize the problem of misuse.