Fentanyl buccal tablet: faster rescue analgesia for breakthrough pain?

Breakthrough pain (BTP) is an unmet clinical need that is still poorly diagnosed, evaluated and inadequately treated. The prevalence of BTP has been estimated to affect at least 64% of cancer patients. Two pain-relief strategies were proposed: preventive and active ('rescue'). Oral short-acting opioid seems to be the most popular approach for BTP treatment, however, it is likely to be inadequate for a substantial proportion of patients as a result of the slow-onset of most available opioid preparations. Fentanyl buccal tablet (FBT) is a novel delivery system for fentanyl citrate. FBT utilizes OraVescent technology to improve bioavailability and speed of drug delivery. Recent studies have demonstrated superior pharmacokinetic profiles when compared with other available transmucosal opioids (OTFC), however, pharmacodynamic data are still somewhat limited.