الوصف: |
M Cascella,1 CA Forte,1 S Bimonte,1 G Esposito,1 C Romano,2 R Costanzo,2 A Morabito,2 A Cuomo1 1Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, IRCCS – Fondazione G Pascale, Naples, Italy; 2Thoracic Medical Oncology, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, IRCCS – Fondazione G Pascale, Naples, Italy Background: Previous studies have shown the efficacy of tapentadol (TP) for chronic cancer pain. We evaluated multiple effectiveness aspects of TP prolonged release on moderate–severe cancer-related pain, neuropathic pain (NeP), patient satisfaction, and quality of life. Methods: An observational prospective study was conducted on 80 cancer patients. Opioid-naïve patients received a starting dose of prolonged-release TP 50 mg twice daily, and opioid-experienced patients were switched to TP, not to exceed 500 mg/day. Treatment response was evaluated at 3, 6, 30–40, and 60–70 days through response rate, numeric rating-scale scoring, survival analysis (time to event for response), pain-intensity difference, TP escalation-index percentage, and effects on NeP. The drug-sparing effect on concomitant therapies was evaluated. Results: Seventy of 80 patients (88%) were responders to treatment (95% CI 78%–94%). Compared to T0, pain-intensity reductions were statistically significant for all intervals (P |