Wang XY, Wang ZD, Kan K, Guo XX. Impact of combined pregabalin and multimodal analgesia on cancer pain and quality of life in advanced colorectal cancer. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; 18(8): 120486 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.120486]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Xin-Xin Guo, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Pain Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, No. 2 Section 5 Heping Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou 121000, Liaoning Province, China. mzguoxx@163.com
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Oncology
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research-article
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Wang XY, Wang ZD, Kan K, Guo XX. Impact of combined pregabalin and multimodal analgesia on cancer pain and quality of life in advanced colorectal cancer. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; 18(8): 120486 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.120486]
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Aug 15, 2026; 18(8): 120486 Published online Aug 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.120486
Impact of combined pregabalin and multimodal analgesia on cancer pain and quality of life in advanced colorectal cancer
Xiao-Yu Wang, Zhan-Dong Wang, Kuo Kan, Xin-Xin Guo
Xiao-Yu Wang, Zhan-Dong Wang, Kuo Kan, Xin-Xin Guo, Department of Pain Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou 121000, Liaoning Province, China
Co-first authors: Xiao-Yu Wang and Zhan-Dong Wang.
Author contributions: Wang XY designed the research, collected and analyzed the data, and drafted the manuscript; Wang XY and Wang ZD contributed equally to this article, they are the co-first authors of this manuscript; Wang ZD and Guo XX conceptualized the research and applied for the funding; Kan K revised the manuscript critically, coordinated communications, conducted the ethical review, handled copyright and licensing matters, and managed the follow-up work; and all authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by Liaoning Provincial Science and Technology Joint Plan Project, No. 2023-MSLH-051.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, approval No. JYDSY-KXYJ-IEC-2026-007.
Clinical trial registration statement: This study has not yet been registered with clinical trials.
Informed consent statement: All research participants or their legal guardians provided written informed consent prior to study registration.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Data sharing statement: No other data available.
Corresponding author: Xin-Xin Guo, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Pain Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, No. 2 Section 5 Heping Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou 121000, Liaoning Province, China. mzguoxx@163.com
Received: February 27, 2026 Revised: March 20, 2026 Accepted: May 9, 2026 Published online: August 15, 2026 Processing time: 160 Days and 17.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Colorectal cancer has high morbidity and mortality, with over 70% patients suffering from cancer pain. Advanced cases have complex pain mechanisms with neuropathic and nociceptive pain superposition. Conventional multimodal analgesia has limitations: Opioids cause adverse reactions, with poor pain control and frequent breakthrough pain in some patients, severely impairing quality of life. Pregabalin is effective for neuropathic pain, and its combined application value needs exploration.
AIM
To explore pregabalin plus multimodal analgesia's effects on advanced colorectal cancer pain and life quality.
METHODS
Total of 100 advanced colorectal cancer patients with moderate to severe pain in our hospital were selected and randomly divided into two groups (50 cases in each group): Guideline-based multimodal analgesia was used as the control, and the observation group was added with pregabalin. A 12-week intervention was conducted; numerical rating scale, cancer patient quality of life core scale, breakthrough pain, opioid dose, and adverse effects were recorded.
RESULTS
Both groups showed significant post-intervention declines in numerical rating scale scores, breakthrough pain frequency and daily opioid dosage (all P < 0.05); the observation group had lower levels [2.3 ± 0.8 points vs 3.7 ± 1.0 points, 0.4 ± 0.3 episodes per day vs 1.5 ± 0.6 episodes per day, 85.6 ± 20.3 mg oral morphine milligram equivalents vs 132.4 ± 25.6 mg oral morphine milligram equivalents, all P < 0.001]. Its cancer patient quality of life core scale overall score was markedly higher (68.5 ± 10.2 vs 52.4 ± 9.6, P < 0.001). Adverse reactions were relieved symptomatically, no severe events occurred.
CONCLUSION
Pregabalin plus multimodal analgesia relieves pain, cuts opioids and boosts life quality in advanced colorectal cancer safely.
Core Tip: This study verifies that pregabalin combined with routine multimodal analgesia exerts a certain analgesic effect in advanced colorectal cancer patients with moderate-severe cancer pain, effectively reducing breakthrough pain and opioid dosage, significantly improving patients’ quality of life, with manageable adverse reactions, thus holding high clinical application value.
