- Aspirin effective for cancer pain
- Potent opioids questioned
- Opioid alternatives may suffice
Cancer patients may find aspirin as effective as potent opioid analgesics, according to a recent study.
The National Health Service (NHS) often prescribes addictive medications like morphine to help cancer patients manage persistent agony caused by tumors.
Recent research challenges the substantial evidence supporting the use of these analgesics in treating the disease.
Scientists now suggest less potent, non-addictive medications like aspirin could be equally effective in preventing symptoms with fewer adverse effects.
They also conclude that potent opioids might impair the body’s ability to combat cancer.
The study by researchers from the Universities of Warwick and Sydney coincides with the NHS’s efforts to combat opioid addiction.
Prescriptions for these medications have halved in England over the past four years, mostly due to non-cancer-related pain.
Analysis of data from over 150 clinical trials on strong analgesics’ efficacy in treating cancer symptoms revealed scant support for their use. ‘Very few’ trials compared their effects to those of a placebo.
Less potent opioids like codeine and antidepressants appeared equally effective in alleviating cancer pain as morphine, known to impair the immune system.
The research suggested that patients with poorly managed pain benefited from a minor infusion of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, but only when used moderately. However, fentanyl was associated with numerous adverse effects.
“Opioids are indispensable for intractable pain and distress at the end of life,” says University of Washington School of Medicine pain medicine expert Professor Jane Ballantyne. Non-opioid analgesics are unexpectedly effective in certain cancer pain types and may avoid dependence concerns.
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