Opioids are the cornerstone of cancer pain management. However, the type and dosing regimen required to achieve satisfactory pain control differs between individuals causing unpredictable pain relief and adverse effect responses. This variability has been attributed to numerous functional gene variants.
This presentation condenses the current evidence on pharmacogenomics for opioid prescribing for cancer pain. It explores genes as predictive biomarkers of opioid response, taking into account opioid dose, pain scores, and adverse effects. It also explores how and when a pharmacogenomic test would be most effective by examining when opioids are prescribed in advanced cancer.
Dr Aaron K Wong is a dual-trained palliative care physician, medical oncologist and early career researcher. He is Clinical Trials Lead at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and The Royal Melbourne Hospital, and has recently submitted his PhD on opioid pharmacogenomics in cancer pain.
