Fentanyl Sublingual Spray for Breakthrough Cancer Pain in Patients Receiving Transdermal Fentanyl

AIM: To investigate the relationship between effective fentanyl sublingual spray (FSS) doses for breakthrough cancer pain (BTCP) and around-the-clock (ATC) transdermal fentanyl patch (TFP). METHODS: Adults tolerating ATC opioids received open-label FSS for 26 days, followed by a 26-day double-blind phase for patients achieving an effective dose (100-1600 µg). RESULTS: Out of 50 patients on ATC TFP at baseline, 32 (64%) achieved an effective dose. FSS effective dose moderately correlated with mean TFP dose (r = 0.4; p = 0.03). Patient satisfaction increased during the study. Common adverse event included nausea (9%) and peripheral edema (9%). CONCLUSION: FSS can be safely titrated to an effective dose for BTCP in patients receiving ATC TFP as chronic cancer pain medication. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00538850.