With the opioid crisis claiming so many lives, physicians need to be especially careful prescribing these drugs. However, for many patients with cancer who are in a lot of pain, opioids can be a necessary part of treatment. So how can physicians determine predictors and frequency of opioid abuse in this population? A study now published in JAMA Oncology found that marital status, higher levels of pain, high scores on the Screener and Opioid Assessment for Patients with Pain (SOAPP), and morphine...

​Opioid addiction, which is currently so widespread that it amounts to a national crisis, often starts with the legitimate use of prescription pain medication after surgery or as a result of another medical condition. For this reason, it is essential to develop non-narcotic strategies to handle pain. A team of researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania did just that, designing a program that successfully managed post-surgery pain for patients with urolo...

A new study has demonstrated that patients undergoing more invasive surgery for early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are more likely to become chronic opioid users than patients who undergo minimally invasive surgery for the same condition. Surgery for early-stage lung cancer often results in persistent pain, which can be debilitatingly intense for approximately 10% of patients. It is considered standard of care to prescribe opioids immediately after surgery with the intention of contr...