As November ushers in Lung Cancer Awareness Month, a fresh batch of research from the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center elbows its way into the spotlight. With over 226,000 individuals expected to face a lung cancer diagnosis this year, according to the National Cancer Institute, the stakes couldn't be higher. But there's a new glimpse of hope as researchers put the focus on preoperative smoking cessation, surgeries' role in survival rates, and postoperative opioid consumption.
The research, led by Cancer Center's own Robert M. Van Haren, MD, and published in the October 2025 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, indicates that an involved, multidisciplinary approach to care can impact opioid use after lung surgery. Adopted back in December 2022, the team's enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols put an array of tactics on the table - including patient education and non-opioid pain solutions - to potentially improve recovery, according to the researchers' findings.
Dr. Van Haren, also an associate professor of surgery and director of the Department of Surgery’s Cincinnati Research in Outcomes and Safety in Surgery (OSS) Laboratory, states that "We previously demonstrated that ERAS improved outcomes in our patients," according to UC News. The study took a close look at 371 patients who underwent lung resection at the center between 2016 and 2022. And regardless of their opioid history, these patients generally saw reduced opioid needs following surgery.
However, it wasn't all clean-cut. Despite most patients benefiting from reduced reliance on opioids post-surgery, there was a caveat—an unexpected twist for 11% of those who hadn't previously used opioids. According to the research in a statement obtained by UC News, they experienced new persistent opioid use, a loud wake-up call indicating the need for tailored pain management strategies. Van Haren mentioned to The Annals of Thoracic Surgery that "strategies are needed to identify risk factors and to individualize pain management in this population."
