Actiq: an effective oral treatment for cancer-related breakthrough pain

As a result of improved survival in cancer and the transfer of care from hospital to primary care, community nurses are taking increasing responsibility for the management of patients at all stages of the disease. Persistent or background pain is common, but between 40% and 80% of patients with advanced cancer also experience breakthrough pain (BTP), a sudden, rapidly escalating flare of pain occurring against a background of otherwise well-controlled persistent pain. While background pain can be successfully managed in most patients, BTP presents a particular challenge to community nurses, because short-acting, 'normal release' oral opioid drugs are absorbed too slowly to treat the typical episode. As this article explains, Actiq is an effective strong opioid with a rapid onset and short duration of action that closely matches the characteristics of an episode of BTP.