%0 Journal Article
%T Modest increase in risk of acute coronary syndrome associated with morphine use in cancer patients: a population-based nested case-control study.
%A Lee CW
%A Muo CH
%A Liang JA
%A Sung FC
%A Kao CH
%J Eur J Oncol Nurs
%V 18
%N 3
%D Jun 2014
%M 24629507
%F 2.588
%R 10.1016/j.ejon.2014.01.009
%X <B>BACKGROUND: </B>Morphine is widely used for pain management in cancer patients. Use of heroin, a morphine derivative, is a risk factor for acute coronary syndrome (ACS).<BR><B>OBJECTIVE: </B>This study investigates the risk of ACS associated with morphine use by comparing the incidence of ACS in cancer patients treated with and without morphine.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>This is a population-based nested case-control study using the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000 in Taiwan. In total, 31,384 patients on the database were diagnosed with cancer without prior history of ACS during 1998-2010. In this cohort, 499 patients subsequently developed ACS and 30,885 patients did not. The 499 patients were designated as the ACS group; controls were selected from the remaining 30,885 patients and matched 3:1 to each case for age, sex, year of cancer diagnosis, and index year. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals, and the multivariable model was applied to control for age, sex, and Charlson comorbidity score.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>Cancer patients who received morphine had a 32% higher risk of developing ACS than non-morphine users. This increase in risk was significant when evaluating the overall cancer patients, but non-significant when evaluating any specific cancer type. The risk of ACS increased significantly with increasing morphine dosage (to ≥65 mg/y).<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Morphine treatment is associated with a modest increase in risk of ACS in patients with malignancy, but this association displays low significance in specific cancer types.