Most patients with advanced or metastatic cancer experience pain and despite several guidelines, undertreatment is well documented. A multicenter, open-label, prospective, non-randomised study was launched in Italy in 2006 to evaluate the epidemiology, patterns and quality of pain care of cancer patients. To assess the adequacy of analgesic care, we used a standardised measure, the pain management index (PMI), that compares the most potent analgesic prescribed for a patient with the reported level of the worst pain of that patient together with a selected list of clinical indicators. A total of 110 centres recruited 1801 valid cases. 61% of cases were received a WHO-level III opioid; 25.3% were classified as potentially undertreated, with wide variation (9.8-55.3%) according to the variables describing patients, centres and pattern of care. After adjustment with a multivariable logistic regression model, type of recruiting centre, receiving adjuvant therapy or not and type of patient recruited (new or already on followup) had a significant association with undertreatment. Non-compliance with the predefined set of clinical indicators was generally high, ranging from 41 to 76%. Despite intrinsic limitations of the PMI that may be considered as an indicator of the poor quality of cancer pain care, results suggest that the recourse to WHO third-level drugs still seems delayed in a substantial percentage of patients. This delay is probably related to several factors affecting practice in participating centres and suggests that the quality of cancer pain management in Italy deserves specific attention and interventions aimed at improving patients' outcomes.

Pain afflicts most cancer patients, mainly in the advanced and metastatic phases of the disease. Despite the existence of several guidelines for cancer pain management that are based on the recommendations by the World Health Organization and the availability of effective treatments for 70% to 90% of cases, undertreatment is well documented and can involve up to 40% of patients. Undertreatment is usually attributed to an incorrect use of opioids for reasons often conceptualized in terms of barriers related to healthcare provider, patient, family, institution, and society. In Italy, opioid consumption rates are among the lowest in Europe despite some of recent efforts to improve the analgesic prescription and utilization. In the context of a wide project coordinated by the Mario Negri Institute, a non-for-profit private foundation located in Milan, Italy, 4 activities were launched: (1) a critical appraisal of information available on the Web, with the preparation and publication of a meta-site to facilitate the use of selected resources; (2) an evaluation of prescriptions of analgesic drugs in a cohort of cancer patients using a large administrative database; (3) a nationwide outcome research study to assess the epidemiology, quality, and effectiveness of different analgesic strategies; and (4) a multimodal, community-based intervention based on information, education, and training programs to change the knowledge, opinions, and attitude toward cancer pain treatment. Activities started in 2005. Some results and outputs are already available; others will be ready by the end of 2007.

Trabectedin is active and well tolerated, retaining similar efficacy across one to three previous lines of chemotherapy.

Despite the limitations owing to the observational design, these findings may be useful to clinicians to judge the value of the drug under evaluation better and to help researchers design further comparative studies.