CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT00538863Updated Oct 11, 2013Results posted

Long-term Safety and Efficacy Study of Fentanyl Sublingual Spray for the Treatment of Breakthrough Cancer Pain

A Phase 3 interventional study of Fentanyl sublingual spray in Cancer and Pain, sponsored by INSYS Therapeutics Inc. Completed at 52 sites in 3 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2013-10-11.

Sponsored by INSYS Therapeutics Inc · Phase 3, Interventional, and Supportive care

Phase
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
319
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study was to assess the 90-day safety of fentanyl sublingual spray for the treatment of breakthrough cancer pain in subjects on around-the-clock opioids for their persistent cancer pain.

Read the detailed description

This was an open-label multi-center study of the safety of fentanyl sublingual spray as a treatment for breakthrough cancer pain. The study medication was administered under the tongue as a simple spray and could be self-administered by patients or assisted by their caregivers. In addition to safety, there was a questionnaire to assess satisfaction with the study medication.

Subjects could enter this study by 1 of 2 routes:

  • De novo subjects who meet the inclusion criteria and none of the exclusion criteria at the Screening Visit were enrolled into the Open-label Titration Period of the study. Upon successful completion of the titration period, patients entered the Open-label Maintenance Period.
  • All patients who successfully completed the Double-blind Randomization Period and the Final Visit of study INS-05-001 (NCT00538850) were eligible to enter the Open-label Maintenance Period of this study.
02

Conditions studied

  • Cancer
  • Pain

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03

In context

Cancer Pain

338 studies on the registry are indexed under Cancer Pain; 71 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 319 is above the median of 60 across 254 interventional studies indexed under Cancer Pain.

Browse Cancer Pain studies →

Lead sponsor

INSYS Therapeutics Inc is the lead sponsor of 45 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

Of its 5 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 3 (60%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

All subjects who have completed the Double-blind Period and Final Visit of protocol INS-05-001(NCT00538850), Multicenter Randomized Double-blind Trial of Fentanyl Sublingual Spray for the Treatment of Breakthrough Cancer Pain are eligible for participation in this open-label extension study.

All de novo subjects must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible for participation in the study:

  1. Male or female, > 18 years of age.
  2. Diagnosis of cancer.
  3. Opioid treatment. Patients who are treated with opioids are defined as those patients who are taking at least 60 mg of oral morphine/day, at least 25 µg of transdermal fentanyl/hour, at least 30 mg of oxycodone/day, at least 8 mg of oral hydromorphone/day or an equianalgesic dose of another opioid for > 7 days for cancer-related pain.
  4. Experience persistent pain related to the cancer or its treatment of moderate or lesser intensity in the 24 hours prior to assessment by a verbal rating scale at the Screening Visit.
  5. Experience on average 1 to 4 breakthrough cancer pain episodes per day usually at least partially controlled by supplemental medication of at least 5 mg immediate-release morphine or an equivalent short-acting opioid (eg, oxycodone, hydrocodone, or codeine with acetaminophen).
  6. Able to evaluate pain relief, assess medication performance, report adverse events (AEs), report use of the study drug or supplemental medication (a caregiver may provide the subject the medication).
  7. Able and willing to give informed consent.
  8. Women of childbearing potential must have a) a negative urine pregnancy test, b) not be breast feeding and c) agree to practice a reliable form of contraception.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Intolerable side effects to opioids or fentanyl.
  2. Rapidly increasing/uncontrolled pain.
  3. A history of major organ system impairment or disease, that in the Investigator's or his/her designee's opinion could increase the risk associated with the use of opioids.
  4. Uncontrolled hypertension (systolic blood pressure [BP] > 180 mm Hg or diastolic BP > 90 mm Hg on 2 occasions at least 6 hours apart) despite antihypertensive therapy, or has a history of hypertensive crisis within the past 2 years.
  5. A recent history (within the past 2 years) of transient ischemic attacks, neural vascular disease, stroke, or cerebral aneurysms.
  6. Serum creatinine, ALT or AST that is greater than 3 times the upper limit of normal.
  7. Diagnosis of sleep apnea.
  8. Brain metastases with signs or symptoms of increased intracranial pressure.
  9. Inability to assess pain or response to pain medications for any reason, including psychiatric disorder, concurrent medical disorder, or concomitant therapy.
  10. Has used methadone within 14 days of the Screening Visit.
  11. Received an investigational study product(s) within 30 days of the Screening Visit.
  12. Use of monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors within 14 days of the Screening Visit.
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
319 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Fentanyl sublingual spray titration

    Patients received fentanyl sublingual spray to treat up to a maximum of 4 breakthrough pain episodes per day with a minimum separation of 4 hours between treatments. Patients started at a dose of 100, 200, or 400 µg and titrated upward to a maximum dose of 1600 µg. Titration was stopped when the dose administered provided adequate analgesia for breakthrough pain without unacceptable side effects or the maximum titration period of 26 days was reached.

    Drug: Fentanyl sublingual spray

  • Experimental
    Fentanyl sublingual spray maintenance

    Patients received fentanyl sublingual spray up to a maximum of 4 times per day with a minimum separation of 4 hours between treatments for 90 days. Patients received a dose of 100 to 1600 µg determined in a previous study (INS-05-001, NCT00538850) or in the open-label dose titration period of the current study. The dose administered provided adequate analgesia for breakthrough pain without unacceptable side effects.

    Drug: Fentanyl sublingual spray

Interventions

  • DrugFentanyl sublingual spray

    Fentanyl sublingual spray in doses of 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1200, and 1600 µg

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Percentage of Patients That Experienced 1 or More Adverse Events

    Time frame: Baseline to end of the study (up to 116 days)

07

Results

Posted Oct 11, 2013

Participant flow

The number of patients in the fentanyl sublingual spray maintenance group includes 179 patients who completed the fentanyl sublingual spray titration period of the study plus 90 patients who entered the study directly in the maintenance period.

Open-label Titration
Participant flow — Open-label Titration
MilestoneFentanyl Sublingual Spray
Started229
Completed184
Not completed45
Open-label Maintenance
Participant flow — Open-label Maintenance
MilestoneFentanyl Sublingual Spray
Started269
Completed163
Not completed106

Outcome measures

PrimaryPercentage of Patients That Experienced 1 or More Adverse Events
Time frame:
Baseline to end of the study (up to 116 days)
Reported as:
Number · Percentage of patients
Percentage of Patients That Experienced 1 or More Adverse Events
Percentage of patientsFentanyl Sublingual Spray TitrationFentanyl Sublingual Spray Maintenance
Percentage of Patients That Experienced 1 or More Adverse Events59.080.7

Adverse events

Collected over All adverse events were followed to resolution, an outcome had been reached, stabilization, or the event was otherwise explained regardless of whether the subject was still participating in the study (up to 150 days).. Non-serious events are listed at a 5% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Fentanyl Sublingual Spray Titration—33/229 (14.4%)194/229 (84.7%)
Fentanyl Sublingual Spray Maintenance—178/269 (66.2%)269/269 (100%)
Most frequent serious events
Showing 10 of 96
Most frequent serious events
EventFentanyl Sublingual Spray TitrationFentanyl Sublingual Spray Maintenance
Malignant neoplasm progressionNeoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified (incl cysts and polyps)5/22960/269
Disease progressionGeneral disorders2/2295/269
AnaemiaBlood and lymphatic system disorders0/2294/269
PneumoniaInfections and infestations0/2294/269
Cancer painNeoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified (incl cysts and polyps)0/2294/269
NauseaGastrointestinal disorders1/2293/269
VomitingGastrointestinal disorders2/2293/269
Non-small cell lung cancerNeoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified (incl cysts and polyps)2/2293/269
Prostate cancerNeoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified (incl cysts and polyps)1/2293/269
Pulmonary embolismRespiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders1/2293/269
Most frequent other events
Showing 10 of 20
Most frequent other events
EventFentanyl Sublingual Spray TitrationFentanyl Sublingual Spray Maintenance
Malignant neoplasm progressionNeoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified (incl cysts and polyps)7/22965/269
VomitingGastrointestinal disorders27/22943/269
NauseaGastrointestinal disorders30/22928/269
Oedema peripheralGeneral disorders7/22931/269
ConstipationGastrointestinal disorders13/22928/269
DyspnoeaRespiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders7/22928/269
SomnolenceNervous system disorders23/22910/269
AstheniaGeneral disorders4/22926/269
FatigueGeneral disorders7/22923/269
DiarrhoeaGastrointestinal disorders8/22920/269

Baseline characteristics

The total number of patients enrolled in the study is 319.

Age Continuous
Age Continuous(years)Fentanyl Sublingual Spray
Titration Period54.1 ± 12.5
Maintenance Period53.6 ± 12.2
Sex/Gender, Customized
Sex/Gender, Customized(Participants)Fentanyl Sublingual Spray
Titration period - Female117
Titration period - Male112
Maintenance period - Female141
Maintenance period - Male128
08

Study locations

52 sites
  • Huntsville, Alabama, United States
  • Winfield, Alabama, United States
  • Glendale, Arizona, United States
  • Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
  • Laguna Hills, California, United States
  • Loma Linda, California, United States
  • Los Gatos, California, United States
  • San Mateo, California, United States
  • Bradenton, Florida, United States
  • Lake Worth, Florida, United States
  • Miami, Florida, United States
  • Winter Park, Florida, United States
  • Newnan, Georgia, United States
  • Chicago, Illinois, United States
  • Skokie, Illinois, United States
  • Zion, Illinois, United States
  • Elkhart, Indiana, United States
  • Bethesda, Maryland, United States
  • Southfield, Michigan, United States
  • Edina, Minnesota, United States
  • Jefferson City, Missouri, United States
  • Great Falls, Montana, United States
  • Kalispell, Montana, United States
  • Missoula, Montana, United States
  • Voorhees, New Jersey, United States
  • Flat Rock, North Carolina, United States
  • Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States
  • Canton, Ohio, United States
  • Dayton, Ohio, United States
  • Eugene, Oregon, United States
  • Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Danville, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Kingsport, Tennessee, United States
  • Bellaire, Texas, United States
  • Dallas, Texas, United States
  • Fort Worth, Texas, United States
  • Port Sam Houston, Texas, United States
  • Tacoma, Washington, United States
  • Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
  • Oakville, Ontario, Canada
  • Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
  • Quebec, Canada
  • Ahmedabad, India
  • Bangalore, India
  • Bhopal, India
  • Hyderabad, India
  • Jaipur, India
  • Mumbai, India
  • Nasik, India
  • Pune, India
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Oct 11, 2013, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00538863
Lead sponsor
INSYS Therapeutics Inc
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Oct 3, 2007
Start date
Dec 2007
Primary completion
Oct 2010
Completion
Oct 2010
Results posted
Oct 11, 2013
Last update
Oct 11, 2013

Study contacts

Larry Dillaha, MD
study director · Chief Medical Officer, Insys Therapeutics Inc

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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