How Racialized Approaches to Opioid Use Disorder and Opioid Misuse Management Hamper Pharmacoequity for Cancer Pain

Katie Fitzgerald Jones; Kevin T Liou; Rebecca L Ashare; Brooke Worster; Katherine A Yeager; Jessica Merlin; Salimah H Meghani

doi:10.1200/JCO.24.00705

How Racialized Approaches to Opioid Use Disorder and Opioid Misuse Management Hamper Pharmacoequity for Cancer Pain

J Clin Oncol. 2025 Jan;43(1):10-14. doi: 10.1200/JCO.24.00705. Epub 2024 Sep 17.

Authors

Katie Fitzgerald Jones^{1

2}, Kevin T Liou³, Rebecca L Ashare⁴, Brooke Worster⁵, Katherine A Yeager⁶, Jessica Merlin⁷, Salimah H Meghani⁸

Affiliations

¹ Division of Palliative Care, Department of Medicine, New England Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, VA Boston Healthcare System Boston, MA.
² Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
³ Department of Medicine, Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY.
⁴ Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY.
⁵ Department of Medical Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
⁶ Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.
⁷ Section of Palliative Care and Medical Ethics, Division of General Internal Medicine, CHAllenges in Managing and Preventing Pain Clinical Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
⁸ Department of Biobehavioral Health Science, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

Abstract

@JCO_ASCO paper focuses on racialized approaches to OUD and opioid misuse as underappreciated drivers of disparities in cancer and recs a path forward.

MeSH terms

Analgesics, Opioid* / administration & dosage
Analgesics, Opioid* / therapeutic use
Cancer Pain* / drug therapy
Healthcare Disparities
Humans
Neoplasms / complications
Neoplasms / drug therapy
Opioid-Related Disorders*
Pain Management / methods

Substances

Analgesics, Opioid

Abstract

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding