Managing Cancer Breakthrough Pain

Managing Cancer Breakthrough Pain is a comprehensive review of cancer breakthrough pain (cBTP) and rapid-onset opioids (ROO), the only treatment approved for cBTP episodes. The book was originally commissioned due to the current rapid growth of the ROO market and the epidemic of ROO abuse. This book will review the historical background and definitions of cBTP and ROOs, assessment methods to determine types of cBTP, US- and EU-approved ROOs, case studies (which will provide practical applications of ROO treatment options), ROO abuse and screening methods, and the FDA-mandated TIRF REMS Access program (Transmucosal Immediate Release Fentanyl Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies Access program). Busy healthcare professionals who have a basic understanding of cancer pain but want to learn more about cBTP and ROOs will benefit from this concise guide that will help them quickly understand the complexities of cBTP episodes and ROOs.

Donald Taylor, MD, is the Medical Director at Comprehensive Pain Care, PC, and the Principal Investigator for Taylor Research, LLC. He graduated from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA in 1984. He then completed a residency in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. After this, he stayed at Johns Hopkins Hospital for a fellowship in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management. During his fellowship he established the use of patient-controlled analgesia and epidural analgesia for postoperative pain at Johns Hopkins Hospital. After his fellowship was completed, he remained on the faculty for a year in the division of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management, providing services in the operating room and in the pain clinic. In 1990, he left Johns Hopkins Hospital and returned to his native Georgia where he entered the private practice of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. He has spent the past 22 years practicing pain medicine and conducting Phase II and III clinical trials for pain management medications and devices. His interest in the treatment of cancer-related pain began in his residency when he saw the great relief of suffering that regional anesthetic techniques and skillfully administered medications could bring to patients with cancer. He continues to care for such patients today and has been involved in Phase III clinical trials of several of the newest class of medications, known today as the rapid-onset opioids, developed specifically for the management of cancer breakthrough pain.