Efficacy of Sublingual Buprenorphine in Moderate-to-Severe Cancer Pain – A Retrospective Audit

Background and Aims: Pain prevalence in cancer patients is 44.5%, with 30.6% experiencing moderate-to-severe pain. Opioid analgesics form the mainstay of pharmacological management of cancer pain. Buprenorphine is a partial Mu opioid receptor agonist with a potentially better safety profile. However, data regarding the use of sublingual formulation in cancer pain are sparse. We aimed to assess the efficacy and tolerability of sublingual buprenorphine as the initial opioid of choice in opioid naïve cancer patients.