Pilot Study of Timely Integration of Interventional Pain Management for Advanced Cancer.

Authors

Jenna M Wilson, Inga Van Wieren, Pritesh S Topiwala, Edgar L Ross, Madeline Gorra, Alexi A Wright, Michael Hassett, Robert Jason Yong, Richard Gao, Michael Ferrick, Daniel Gorman, Kate Lally, Robert N Jamison, Andrea C Enzinger

Published in

Journal of pain and symptom management. Oct 15, 2026. Epub Oct 15, 2026.

Abstract

. Interventional pain procedures, such as such as nerve blocks, neurolytic procedures, and therapeutic injections, can alleviate cancer pain yet are often considered only after failure of high-dose opioids.
. To assess feasibility and acceptability of timely integration of interventional pain management among patients with cancer pain.
. This single-arm pilot study enrolled patients with locally advanced or metastatic cancer, moderate-to-severe pain, a prognosis of >6 months, and a daily opioid dose of ≤90 morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs), later amended to ≤200 MMEs). Patients were referred to a pain clinic for systematic consideration of interventional treatments. Surveys at baseline, 2, and 4 months assessed pain (BPI), procedural pain relief (0-100%), and quality of life (QOL; FACT-G). Feasibility and acceptability were evaluated based on time to evaluation, receipt of ≥1 procedure, and satisfaction (0-10). Linear mixed models examined changes in pain and QOL.
. Thirty patients with mixed cancer types were enrolled. Nearly all patients (93%) were evaluated by a pain specialist within four weeks, 56.7% received ≥1 procedure, and 83.3% rated care satisfaction ≥7 (M=8.6; SD=1.6), meeting all feasibility and acceptability benchmarks. Among those who underwent a procedure, patients reported substantial pain relief at both 2 months (M=66.7%, SD=32.8) and 4 months (M=65.3%, SD=34.4). Pain intensity (p=0.015) and pain interference (p=0.03) improved, whereas QOL remained stable (p>0.05).
. Timely integration of interventional pain management for cancer pain was feasible and acceptable. Future research should test efficacy and strategies to support integration of procedural pain management into care pathways.

PMID:
42880515
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 16 Oct 2026.

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