Declines Seen in New, Additional Prescribing of Opioids in Patients With Cancer

TUESDAY, Sept. 23, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Among patients with newly diagnosed cancer, new and additional prescribing of opioids has decreased, according to a study published online Sept. 22 in Cancer.

Laura Van Metre Baum, M.D., M.P.H., from the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues conducted a retrospective study among 10,232 opioid-naive adults with newly diagnosed cancer from 2016 to 2020 in a large Connecticut health system. Changes in the predicted probability of opioid prescribing were calculated from 2016 to 2020. Two subpopulations were assessed: 4,405 patients treated surgically and 2,158 patients with metastatic cancer.

The researchers found a decline in the predicted probability of new (71.1 to 64.6 percent) and additional prescribing (27.2 to 24.2 percent). The predicted probability of new opioid prescribing decreased among surgical patients (96.0 to 88.6 percent), while additional prescribing was stable (13 percent). New opioid prescribing was stable (56 percent) for patients with metastatic cancer with pain. The predicted probability of new opioid prescribing decreased from 61.6 to 36.1 percent 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,” Van Metre Baum said in a statement. “Important questions remain regarding how to best ensure adequate treatment of cancer pain for all patients.”

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text