Paracetamol Versus Placebo in Conjunction With Strong Opioids for Cancer Pain

Summary

National guidelines advocate the use of paracetamol in conjunction with strong opioids for cancer pain, despite a lack of evidence for its efficacy. Work is needed to examine the analgesic benefit of paracetamol in this large patient group. The investigators aim to establish if paracetamol in combination with strong opioids provides superior analgesia for cancer related pain over strong opioids alone.

Timeline

Start

2016-11-25

Primary completion

2018-09-04

Completion

2019-05

Outcome

Outcome not reported

Stopped (Enrollment): “Funding was terminated early due to slow recruitment.”

Publications

• Hagen KMR, McWilliams K, Bowden J, Harvie K, Paulsen O, Fallon M. PaSo paracetamol with strong opioids trial: paracetamol versus placebo in conjunction with strong opioids for cancer pain-a pilot randomised placebo-controlled withdrawal trial. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2026 Jun 17:spcare-2026-006267. doi: 10.1136/spcare-2026-006267. Online ahead of print.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.