Current guidelines recommend all people with cancer-related pain should be prescribed
paracetamol, even those receiving high doses of strong pain killers (opioids) such as
morphine. Although this has been shown in studies to be beneficial in other conditions, for
instance dental work and after surgery, it has not been shown to further improve pain in
people with cancer-related pain. Taking tablets is burdensome to patients and the study aims
to determine whether the inconvenience of taking eight extra paracetamol tablets per day can
be justified.
The study plans to show whether or not pain control is changed (non-inferior) when stopping
paracetamol compared to continued use of paracetamol in people already taking strong pain
killers for cancer-related pain. Voluntary participants who are taking a combination of
paracetamol and a strong opioid are recruited to the study.