The Influence of Opioids & Anesthesia on Cancer Survivorship

Overview

How do anesthetics and analgesics interact with the immune system and angiogenesis in ways that influence tumor growth and metastasis?

Cancer pain affects millions of Americans. There are more than 14 million cancer survivors in the United States, and an estimated 40% of cancer survivors continue to experience persistent pain as a result of treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy

Dr. Monika Patel presents the latest information on:

Mechanisms of angiogenesis and immunity
How key targets involved in cancer development are affected by pharmaceuticals
Research pearls of cancer progression with commonly used pain relieving pharmaceuticals
Importance of anesthetic technique on cancer survivorship
Gaps in research

Learning Objectives

As a result of participating in this activity, learners will be able modify their clinical algorithm for providing good pain control, by considering the type of cancer that a patient has, in order to:

Mitigate undesired cancer proliferation
Include NSAIDS concomitantly
Determine when to utilize local vs. general anesthetics
Choose between volatile vs. nonvolatile agents as a general anesthetic

Desirable Physician Attributes

Patient Care [ACGME/ABMS] Provide care that is compassionate, appropriate and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health
Medical Knowledge [ACGME/ABMS] about established and evolving biomedical, clinical, and cognate (e.g. epidemiological and social-behavioral) sciences and the application of this knowledge to patient care
Employ Evidenced-based Practice [IOM] Integrate best research with clinical expertise and patient values for optimum care, and participate in learning and research activities to the extent feasible

Pain management domains and core competencies

2. Pain assessment and measurement: How is pain assessed and measured?

Describes patient, clinician, and system factors that can facilitate or interfere with effective pain assessment and management
Demonstrates use of proper patient assessment, including physical exam and history, when treating
pain

3. Treatment: How is pain safely and effectively treated?

Demonstrates knowledge of risk stratification, patient selection, and ongoing monitoring for pharmacological pain treatment
Develops a treatment plan that takes into account the differences among acute pain, acute-on-chronic
pain, chronic or persistent pain, and pain at the end of life
Develops a pain treatment plan based on benefits and risks of available treatments

Accreditation & Designation

Release date: This activity was released 8/27/2021.

Termination date: The content of this activity remains eligible for CME Credit until 8/26/2024, unless reviewed or amended prior to this date.

Neurovations Education is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Neurovations Education designates this other activity (blended learning) for a maximum of 0.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Disclosure of Financial Relationships

Neither the presenter, reviewers nor any other person with control of, or responsibility for, the planning, delivery, or evaluation of accredited continuing education has, or has had within the past 24 months, any financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

Additional Reading

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