Clinical trial NCT00472303
Conditions: Tumor Pain
Keywords: Opioid Central acting analgesic CG5503 PR Tumor related pain Cancer related pain Morphine Pain assessment Placebo
Sponsor: Grünenthal GmbH
Start date: 2007-07-01; Completion date: 2012-06-01
Enrollment: 622 participants; Allocation: RANDOMIZED; Intervention model: PARALLEL

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study will be to determine whether tapentadol (CG5503) is effective and safe in the treatment of chronic tumor related pain compared to placebo. In addition tapentadol (CG5503) will also be compared to morphine controlled release, also referred to as slow release (SR).

\*Tapentadol prolonged-release (PR) is the term used in the European Union and is referred to as extended release (ER) in the United States.

Detailed description:
Normally chronic tumor related pain is controlled when participants receive repeated doses of opioid analgesics. However, opioid therapy is commonly associated with side effects such as nausea, vomiting, sedation, constipation, addiction, tolerance, and respiratory depression. Tapentadol (CG5503), a newly synthesized drug with an prolonged release (PR) formulation, also acts as a centrally acting pain reliever but has 2 mechanisms of action. The aim of this trial is to investigate the effectiveness (level of pain control) and safety (side effects) of tapentadol (CG5503) PR compared with no drug (placebo) and corresponding dose of morphine (an opioid commonly used to treat tumor related pain). This trial is a randomized, double-blind (neither investigator nor patient will know which treatment was received), active- and placebo-controlled, parallel-group, randomized withdrawal design, multicenter trial.

The trial includes a 2 week titration phase starting with either 40 mg morphine (PR) bid (bid = twice daily dosing, one dose in the morning and one dose in the evening) or 100 mg tapentadol (CG5503) PR bid. Based on effectiveness and side effects subjects can up-titrate in steps of 50 mg tapentadol (CG5503 PR) to a maximal dose of 250 mg tapentadol (CG5503) PR bid or 100 mg morphine PR bid. If participants meet the stabilisation criteria at the end of the titration phase they will be re-randomized to either placebo or active treatment and will continue 4 weeks at the last dose level in the maintenance phase. Only participants on tapentadol in the titration phase will be re-randomized to either matching placebo or to tapentadol. To maintain the blinding nature of the trial participants in the morphine arm during the titration phase will also be re-randomized however they will all remain on morphine controlled release in the maintenance phase. Placebo to match tapentadol tablets, as well as placebo to match morphine capsules, will be used to mask the treatment allocation.

Participants will be issued with an electronic diary (eDiary) to capture Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) pain intensities.

Assessments of pain relief include the pain intensity numeric rating scale (NRS) and patient global impression of change (PGIC). Safety evaluations include monitoring of adverse events, physical examinations, clinical laboratory tests and electrocardiograms. Venous blood samples will be collected for the determination of serum concentrations of tapentadol (CG5503).

Arms: arm 1: Oral Tapentadol 100 mg to 250 mg twice daily. Participants randomized to placebo in the maintenance phase received 100 mg tapentadol prolonged release twice daily for 3 days to taper them off the tapentadol dose they had received in the Titration Phase. From the 4th day (Day 18) all participants received matching placebo in the maintenance (i.e. randomized withdrawal) phase. arm 2: Oral Morphine 40 mg to 100 mg twice daily. Capsule taken orally, twice daily, morning \& evening with preferably 12 hours (not less than 6 hours) between doses. Maintenance phase: continuing on dose level established in titration phase. arm 3: Oral Tapentadol 100 mg to 250 mg twice daily. Tablet taken orally, twice daily, morning \& evening with preferably 12 hours (not less than 6 hours) between doses.
Interventions: intervention 1: Tapentadol Extended Release intervention 2: Matching Placebo after Tapentadol in the Titration Phase. intervention 3: Morphine Sulphate Controlled Release
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Tablet taken orally, twice daily, morning \& evening with preferably 12 hours (not less than 6 hours) between doses. Titration phase: Starting at 100 mg, increasing at a minimum of 3 day intervals by 50 mg, with a maximum dose of 250 mg. intervention 2: Tablet taken orally, twice daily, morning \& evening with preferably 12 hours (not less than 6 hours) between doses. In the maintenance phase only to participants that were randomized to tapentadol in the titration phase. intervention 3: Capsule taken orally, twice daily, morning \& evening with preferably 12 hours (not less than 6 hours) between doses. Titration phase: Starting at 40 mg, increasing at a minimum of 3 days intervals by 20 mg, with a maximum dose of 100 mg. Maintenance phase: continuing on dose level established in titration phase.

Protocol documents: