• Alberto Carmona-Bayonas, Paula Jiménez Fonseca, and Juan Virizuela Echaburu.
• Hematology and Medical Oncology Department, Morales Meseguer University Hospital, Regional Center of Hemodonation of Murcia, IMIB-Arrixaca, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
• Pain Pract. 2017 Nov 1; 17 (8): 1075-1088.

Background And ObjectivePain is one of the most common symptoms in patients with cancer. The aim of this review is to summarize the most recent literature regarding tapentadol use in oncology patients and moderate or severe pain.Databases And Data TreatmentWe have conducted a review of the literature using PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Google Scholar for all manuscripts published between 2008 and 2016, using the key words "tapentadol," "cancer," "pain," "tumor," and "malignant."ResultsNine studies met the inclusion criteria (four randomized clinical trials and five prospective cohort studies). The scope of the literature was diverse, with 15 instruments used to measure different aspects of pain (intensity, health status, quality of life, psychometric and well-being, perception of change, and neuropathic pain). All these studies concluded that tapentadol is seemingly a well-tolerated and efficacious agent for moderate-severe cancer pain, with few typically mild adverse reactions. However, the most significant detected weaknesses of research were that (1) existing studies do not clearly show a superiority of tapentadol with respect to previous generation opioids, (2) low-to-moderate sample sizes prevent obtaining robust conclusions about effectiveness, (3) there was an absence of noninferiority trials comparing tapentadol vs. fentanyl or oxycodone-naloxone, and (4) there was scarce generalizability of prospective observational studies.ConclusionTapentadol is seemingly an effective, well-tolerated alternative for moderate or severe cancer pain. Most prospective cohort studies have relatively small samples, are restricted to few research centers, and lack detailed subgroup information. More experience is required to draw valid generalizable conclusions.© 2017 World Institute of Pain.

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