Ketamine in the management of cancer pain - Reply to K.A. Jackson et al and W. Leppert

Reply to K.A. Jackson et al and W. Leppert

"....We stand by our conclusion that subcutaneous ketamine when
used in a dose-escalating regimen over 5 days confers no net clinical
benefit at a population level for patients with advanced cancer. Furthermore, we were unable to identify any predictors of response in this cohort. The fact that these patients “have few other options” does not justify the use of a drug that is not only ineffective but also has
significant toxicity. Although there is a large body of contrary anecdotal
evidence, there is increasing evidence from randomized controlled
trials that supports our claim.....

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DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2012.47.9469; published online ahead of print at
www.jco.org on February 19, 2013