Cancer Pain Management Philadelphia PA

According to Cancer-Pain.org, approximately 30% to 50% of people with cancer experience pain while undergoing treatment, and 70% to 90% of people with advanced cancer experience pain. Opioid analgesics are used to treat moderate to severe pain.  Opioids in particular are used to treat patients with severe pain.  Unlike NSAIDs, opioids do not have a ceiling, meaning that increased pain relief can be achieved with increased dosage of drug, although this leads to higher incidence of side effects.

About one-half to two thirds of patients with chronic cancer-related pain also experience episodes of "breakthrough" cancer pain, according to Cancer-Pain.org. More than 1,000,000 patients in the U.S. suffer from breakthrough cancer pain, defined as transitory flare of pain when chronic pain is managed with opioids. Generally, breakthrough pain happens fast, and may last anywhere from seconds to minutes to hours. Severe chronic pain is common where there is direct tumor involvement.  It has been reported that of cancer patients in their last year of life, over 80% have severe pain, and 60% have severe pain for over six months.  The treatment of breakthrough pain is a major medical challenge. 

The most desirable characteristics of treatment for this type of pain are speed of onset of action and ability to increase dose according to onset of pain. However, according to a recent article in Pharmacologic Treatment of Cancer Pain, chronic cancer pain can be successfully treated in about 95% of people with the drug and non-drug therapies that are currently available. 

A new transmucosal drug for the treatment of breakthrough pain is now available. Called ACTIQ (Oral Transmucosal Fentanyl Citrate), it is the only analgesic drug to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration specifically for breakthrough pain, and the first analgesic medication that comes in the form of a lozenge on a handle. ACTIQ dissolves through the mucus membranes in the mouth and provides rapid pain relief within 5 to 10 minutes.