Multi‐Center Evaluation of Opioid Administration or Prescription in Pediatric Oncology Patients Using the OMOP CDM
6 affiliations
- 1Child Health Evaluative Sciences The Hospital for Sick Children Toronto Ontario Canada
- 2Department of Pediatrics Stanford University School of Medicine Palo Alto California USA
- 3Columbia University School of Nursing/Herbert Irving Cancer Center New York New York USA
- 4Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders Research, Department of Pediatrics Seattle Children's Hospital, University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
- 5Department of Pediatrics Columbia University Irving Medical Center New York New York USA
- 6Data Sciences Unit Columbia University New York New York USA
Abstract
Purpose Opioid use in pediatric oncology is poorly characterized. The primary objective was to describe opioid administration or prescription patterns in pediatric oncology patients. Methods In this multi‐center retrospective study conducted across three sites, we included patients aged 0–19 years with a malignant neoplastic disease who received their first chemotherapy between January 2019 and March 2024. Data were extracted from each site's Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership Common Data Model. We described patient characteristics based on: (1) first opioid administration or prescription, overall and for each specific opioid; and (2) all opioid administrations or prescriptions, overall and for each specific opioid. We also evaluated variability in opioid and naloxone use. Results Of 2903 pediatric patients with cancer, 2707 (93.2%) were administered or prescribed at least one opioid. Among these patients, fentanyl was the most common (92.4%), followed by morphine (68.7%), hydromorphone (55.3%), and oxycodone (38.6%). Across centers, the proportion of patients receiving fentanyl ranged from 90.9% to 94.9%, morphine from 34.0% to 89.2%, oxycodone from 0.9% to 76.1%, and naloxone from 2.4% to 29.5%. Overall, 10.9% were administered or prescribed naloxone, but among 169 methadone patients, 43.5% were administered or prescribed it. Of the 153,849 total opioid administrations or prescriptions, 22.4% occurred more than 12 months after initiating chemotherapy. Conclusions Among pediatric patients with cancer who receive chemotherapy, 93.2% were administered or prescribed at least one opioid; fentanyl was the most common. There was heterogeneity in opioid choice and naloxone use across sites. These findings lay preliminary groundwork for understanding opioid use patterns and identifying potential areas for practice improvement in pediatric oncology.
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BibTeX
@article{feng2026multicenter,
title = {{Multi‐Center Evaluation of Opioid Administration or Prescription in Pediatric Oncology Patients Using the OMOP CDM}},
author = {Yuqing Feng and Martin Yi and Catherine C. Aftandilian and Melissa P. Beauchemin and Christine Cunningham and David DeStephano and Rhea K. Khurana and Emily Larimer and Jennifer Oberg and Benjamin L. May and Keith Morse and Karthik Natarajan and David Noyd and Victoria Soucek and Yujie Chen and Adam Yan and Lin Lawrence Guo and Lillian Sung},
journal = {Cancer Medicine},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/cam4.72310},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.72310},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Multi‐Center Evaluation of Opioid Administration or Prescription in Pediatric Oncology Patients Using the OMOP CDM
AU - Yuqing Feng
AU - Martin Yi
AU - Catherine C. Aftandilian
AU - Melissa P. Beauchemin
AU - Christine Cunningham
AU - David DeStephano
AU - Rhea K. Khurana
AU - Emily Larimer
AU - Jennifer Oberg
AU - Benjamin L. May
AU - Keith Morse
AU - Karthik Natarajan
AU - David Noyd
AU - Victoria Soucek
AU - Yujie Chen
AU - Adam Yan
AU - Lin Lawrence Guo
AU - Lillian Sung
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/24
JO - Cancer Medicine
DO - 10.1002/cam4.72310
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.72310
AB - Purpose Opioid use in pediatric oncology is poorly characterized. The primary objective was to describe opioid administration or prescription patterns in pediatric oncology patients. Methods In this multi‐center retrospective study conducted across three sites, we included patients aged 0–19 years with a malignant neoplastic disease who received their first chemotherapy between January 2019 and March 2024. Data were extracted from each site's Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership Common Data Model. We described patient characteristics based on: (1) first opioid administration or prescription, overall and for each specific opioid; and (2) all opioid administrations or prescriptions, overall and for each specific opioid. We also evaluated variability in opioid and naloxone use. Results Of 2903 pediatric patients with cancer, 2707 (93.2%) were administered or prescribed at least one opioid. Among these patients, fentanyl was the most common (92.4%), followed by morphine (68.7%), hydromorphone (55.3%), and oxycodone (38.6%). Across centers, the proportion of patients receiving fentanyl ranged from 90.9% to 94.9%, morphine from 34.0% to 89.2%, oxycodone from 0.9% to 76.1%, and naloxone from 2.4% to 29.5%. Overall, 10.9% were administered or prescribed naloxone, but among 169 methadone patients, 43.5% were administered or prescribed it. Of the 153,849 total opioid administrations or prescriptions, 22.4% occurred more than 12 months after initiating chemotherapy. Conclusions Among pediatric patients with cancer who receive chemotherapy, 93.2% were administered or prescribed at least one opioid; fentanyl was the most common. There was heterogeneity in opioid choice and naloxone use across sites. These findings lay preliminary groundwork for understanding opioid use patterns and identifying potential areas for practice improvement in pediatric oncology.
SN - 2045-7634
ER -