-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Efficacy and safety of fentanyl sublingual spray for the treatment of breakthrough cancer pain: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
- Richard Rauck, Lowell Reynolds, Jonathan Geach, Janet Bull, Lisa Stearns, Morris Scherlis, Neha Parikh, and Larry Dillaha.
- The Center for Clinical Research, Winston Salem, NC, USA. rrauck@ccrpain.org
- Curr Med Res Opin. 2012 May 1;28(5):859-70.
Background And ObjectivesA number of transmucosal fentanyl formulations have been developed for the management of breakthrough cancer pain (BTCP). Sublingual delivery of fentanyl, formulated as fentanyl sublingual spray, offers the potential for more rapid and greater absorption of fentanyl and associated onset of analgesic effect compared with other formulations. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of fentanyl sublingual spray for the treatment of BTCP.Research Design And MethodsThis was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III trial conducted in opioid-tolerant patients with BTCP. An open-label titration period was followed by a double-blind treatment period during which patients received fentanyl sublingual spray (100-1600 mcg) or placebo.Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT00538850.Main Outcome MeasuresThe primary efficacy measure was summed pain intensity difference at 30 minutes (SPID(30)). Secondary efficacy measures included total pain relief at 30 minutes (TOTPAR(30)) and patient global evaluation of study medication at 30 minutes. Efficacy measures were also assessed at various time points from 5-60 minutes postdose. Adverse events were monitored throughout the study.ResultsA total of 130 patients were treated during the titration period, of whom 98 (75.4%) entered the double-blind period. Relative to placebo, fentanyl sublingual spray significantly improved mean SPID scores from 5 minutes (p = 0.0219) through 60 minutes (p < 0.0001), including the primary endpoint at 30 minutes (p < 0.0001). Fentanyl sublingual spray produced significantly greater pain relief (expressed in terms of TOTPAR) from 5 through 60 minutes (p < 0.0001), and significantly greater global evaluation of treatment effectiveness (p < 0.0001), compared with placebo. During double-blind treatment, the most frequently reported adverse events were nausea (7.1%), hyperhidrosis (5.1%), and peripheral edema (5.1%). Serious adverse events occurred in seven patients (5.4%) during titration and six (6.1%) during double-blind treatment; none were considered related to treatment.ConclusionsThese findings indicate that treatment with fentanyl sublingual spray results in effective relief of BTCP, with a rapid onset of action, and is well tolerated.
Notes
Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
- Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as
*italics*
,_underline_
or**bold**
. - Superscript can be denoted by
<sup>text</sup>
and subscript<sub>text</sub>
. - Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines
1. 2. 3.
, hyphens-
or asterisks*
. - Links can be included with:
[my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
- Images can be included with:
![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
- For footnotes use
[^1](This is a footnote.)
inline. - Or use an inline reference
[^1]
to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document[^1]: This is a long footnote.
.