Fentanyl buccal tablet for cancer breakthrough pain

Pain is one of the most common symptoms of advanced cancer and has significant adverse effects on patients' functioning and quality of life.¹ A number of studies have established that pain can be controlled in the majority of patients using the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines,² however, even when background pain is well controlled, 70–90 per cent of patients with advanced cancer also experience brief episodes or flares of severe pain, known as breakthrough pain.³ Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.