What are the recent trends in opioid prescribing for patients with cancer?

Study indicates declines in new and additional prescriptions, especially for patients with metastatic cancer reporting no pain.

2025-09-22

(Press-News.org) A recent analysis reveals a modest decline from 2016 to 2020 in new and additional opioid prescriptions for patients with cancer. Among those patients with metastatic cancer, prescribing remained stable for those reporting any pain and declined steeply for those reporting no pain. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

In response to the opioid crisis, public health efforts have sought to enact policies and regulations to reduce inappropriate opioid prescribing and prevent unsafe opioid use, including adverse outcomes such as opioid use disorder and opioid overdose. However, such efforts could unintentionally reduce access to opioids for patients with cancer, leading to under-treatment of cancer-related pain.

To assess trends in opioid prescribing for patients with cancer, investigators analyzed data on adults who had not previously been prescribed opioids and were newly diagnosed with cancer in 2016–2020 in a large Connecticut health system. New opioid prescriptions were defined as those given in the first 6 months following diagnosis, and additional prescriptions were defined as those given in the first 6 months following diagnosis and in months 7–9 after diagnosis.

In the study of 10,232 patients, there was a decline in new (71.1% to 64.6%) and additional (27.2% to 24.2%) prescribing from 2016 to 2020. Among patients who underwent cancer surgery, new opioid prescribing fell from 96.0% to 88.6%, while additional prescribing was stable at 13%. For patients with metastatic cancer, new prescribing was stable at 56% for those who reported pain and declined from 61.6% to 36.1% for those reporting no pain.

“The treatment of cancer-related pain in the setting of the ongoing opioid epidemic is complicated. Reassuringly, our study shows that declines in opioid prescribing for patients with cancer appear to reflect clinical judgment and context,” said lead author Laura Van Metre Baum, MD, MPH, of Yale School of Medicine at the time of the study, now of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “Important questions remain regarding how to best ensure adequate treatment of cancer pain for all patients.”

Additional information
NOTE: The information contained in this release is protected by copyright. Please include journal attribution in all coverage. A free abstract of this article will be available via the CANCER Newsroom upon online publication. For more information or to obtain a PDF of any study, please contact: Sara Henning-Stout, newsroom@wiley.com

Full Citation:
“Opioid prescribing trends and pain scores among adult patients with cancer in a large health system.” Laura Van Metre Baum, Pamela R. Soulos, Madhav KC, Molly M. Jeffery, Kathryn J. Ruddy, Catherine C. Lerro, Hana Lee, David J. Graham, Donna R. Rivera, Mark Liberatore, Michael S. Leapman, Vikram Jairam, Michaela A. Dinan, Cary P. Gross, and Henry S. Park. CANCER; Published Online: September 22, 2025 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.70027).
URL Upon Publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/cncr.70027

Author Contact: Victoria Warren, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, at Victoria_Warren@DFCI.HARVARD.EDU

About the Journal    
CANCER is a peer-reviewed publication of the American Cancer Society integrating scientific information from worldwide sources for all oncologic specialties. The objective of CANCER is to provide an interdisciplinary forum for the exchange of information among oncologic disciplines concerned with the etiology, course, and treatment of human cancer. CANCER is published on behalf of the American Cancer Society by Wiley and can be accessed online. Follow CANCER on X @JournalCancer and Instagram @ACSJournalCancer, and stay up to date with the American Cancer Society Journals on LinkedIn.

About Wiley     
Wiley is a global leader in authoritative content, data-driven insights, and knowledge services that advance science and learning. For more than 200 years, we’ve empowered researchers, learners and institutions worldwide to drive progress and solve the world’s most pressing challenges. Visit us at Wiley.com and Investors.Wiley.com. Follow us on Facebook, X, LinkedIn and Instagram.

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Science journalists as brokers of trust

2025-09-22

“Trust in science is collapsing”—that’s the alarm we often hear. It’s not surprising, then, that recent years have seen major efforts to study the phenomenon and its dynamics in the general population. Far less attention, however, has been paid to the information professionals—journalists—who play a crucial bridging role between the world of scientific research and the public. A new paper in the Journal of Science Communication (JCOM) by a research group at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) of the Karlsruhe Institute of ...

Urgent awareness gap: 1 in 3 Europeans unfamiliar with cystitis, half unaware women are most at risk

2025-09-22

Arnhem, 22 September 2025 – A new international study has uncovered a concerning lack of public understanding about cystitis and urinary tract infections (UTIs) – common health issues that disproportionately affect women. The findings, which also highlight widespread misconceptions about prevention and treatment, underscore the urgent need for education to combat rising antibiotic resistance. In a survey of over 3,000 adults across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK, 35% of respondents could not correctly define ...

Virtual care expansion did not expand specialist access in rural areas

2025-09-22

Despite the expansion of virtual care in Ontario prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, specialist physicians did not expand reach to patients living at great distances from where they provided care, found new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.250166 “We found that widespread availability of virtual care, accompanied by remuneration changes, was not associated with substantial expansion of specialists’ practices to serve patients who lived farther away,” writes Dr. Natasha Saunders, ...

Scientists call for urgent action to reduce children’s plastic exposure

2025-09-21

Childhood exposure to chemicals used to make plastic household items presents growing health risks that can extend long into adulthood, experts from NYU Langone Health report. This is the main conclusion after a review of hundreds of the latest studies on the topic, publishing online Sept. 21 in the journal The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. The article is being released to coincide with a gathering of experts the same week in New York City to discuss the global impact of plastics on human health. In their report, the authors outline decades of evidence that substances often added to industrial and household goods ...

Our actions are dictated by “autopilot”, not choice, finds new study

2025-09-21

Habit, not conscious choice, drives most of our actions, according to new research from the University of Surrey, University of South Carolina and Central Queensland University. The research, published in Psychology & Health, found that two-thirds of our daily behaviours are initiated “on autopilot”, out of habit. Habits are actions that we are automatically prompted to do when we encounter everyday settings, due to associations that we have learned between those settings and our usual responses to them. The research also found that 46% of behaviours were both triggered by habit and aligned with ...

Cardboard and earth reshape sustainable construction

2025-09-21

Engineers in Australia have developed a new building material with about one quarter of concrete’s carbon footprint, while reducing waste going to landfill. This innovative material, called cardboard-confined rammed earth, is composed entirely of cardboard, water and soil – making it reusable and recyclable. In Australia alone, more than 2.2 million tons of cardboard and paper are sent to landfill each year. Meanwhile, cement and concrete production account for about 8% of annual global emissions. Cardboard has previously been used in temporary structures and disaster shelters, such as Shigeru Ban’s iconic Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand. Inspired ...

New biochar breakthrough offers hope for cleaner, safer farmland soils

2025-09-19

Agricultural soils across the world are increasingly polluted by heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, chromium, and arsenic. These toxic elements, often introduced through industrial wastewater, fertilizers, and manure, can accumulate in crops and threaten human health through the food chain. Long-term exposure is linked to kidney damage, osteoporosis, and even cancer. Protecting soil health and food safety has therefore become an urgent global challenge. In a new study published in Agricultural ...

The future of obesity management – quintuple and other super polyagonists for weight loss and maintenance?

2025-09-19

Much excitement has built in recent years on the new class of incretin drugs that include glucagon-like-peptide-1 inhibitor (single agonists such as semaglutide) and also dual glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and GLP-1 receptor agonists (dual agonists such tirzepatide). Billions of dollars is now being poured into research to develop new anti-obesity medications that exhibit stronger effects while minimising side-effect profiles. But the excitement is not just limited to existing mono- and dual-agonists. In a session at this year’s Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes ...

$3.6M NIH grant to study brain patterns in children with ADHD, behavior problems

2025-09-19

HERSHEY, Pa. — Approximately 7 million children in the United States between the ages of three and 17 have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. Up to 50% of children with ADHD also have severe problems with impulsive aggression and persistent irritability, according to James Waxmonsky, professor of psychiatry and University Chair in Child Psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine. These children can experience intense and extended emotional ...

Heart and hope: Study shows promising quality of life for those with Down syndrome and congenital heart defects

2025-09-19

Adults with both Down Syndrome and congenital heart defects, also known as congenital heart disease (CHD), are showing remarkable resilience despite facing significant medical challenges, according to a new MUSC study in Pediatric Cardiology. The study found that adults ages 18 to 45 with both conditions are just as likely to work, volunteer and experience the same quality of life as those with Down Syndrome alone. The study was conducted through the Pediatric Heart Network, a consortium of leading children’s hospitals that includes ...