



GLENVIEW, Ill. — An investigational cannabinoid therapy has proven to be an effective analgesia when used as an adjuvant medication for cancer patients with pain that responded poorly to opioids, according to results of a multicenter trial reported in The Journal of Pain, published by the American Pain Society.

Opioid therapy is the standard therapy for patients suffering from cancer pain, especially those in the advanced stages of the illness. The problem is that there is a substantial number of patients who can't be treated with opioids since their pain requires unsafe or intolerable levels of opioids. Cannabinoids are being investigated as possible combination partners with opioids in managing the pain of these patients.

The randomized multicenter study, nabiximols, a cannabinoid delivered as an oral mucosal spray, was given to the test patients through an oral spray. The compound is absorbed through the mouth's mucous lining.

Patients were eligible to participate in the study if they had active cancer and chronic pain that was moderate to severe despite taking opioids. The study timeline was a five to 14 day baseline period, five weeks titration and treatment, and a post-study visit after two weeks. Every day, patients responded to questions to rate their pain, gauge their sleep quality, and determine how many sprays of the nabiximols they were taking. -The Journal of Pain

The results of the study showed that supplementing opioid pain therapy with nabiximols, as an add-on therapy, improved pain management by 25 percent when compared with pain managed with an opioid only. However, this improvement only shows up in low-dosage scenarios. There is no improvement when applied to patients who require high dosages of pain relievers. In this group, the high nabiximols dosage was not tolerated well. Only 2/3 of test subjects finished the clinical study. The study's authors concluded that nabiximols in low-doses or tolerable doses might offer pain relief to cancer patients who are very ill and in advanced stages of the disease.

About the American Pain Society



Based in Glenview, Ill., the American Pain Society (APS) is a multidisciplinary community that brings together a diverse group of scientists, clinicians and other professionals to increase the knowledge of pain and transform public policy and clinical practice to reduce pain-related suffering. APS was founded in 1978 with 510 charter members. From the outset, the group was conceived as a multidisciplinary organization. The Board of Directors includes physicians, nurses, psychologists, basic scientists, pharmacists, policy analysts and others. For more information on APS, visit www.ampainsoc.org.