Silver N, Dourado J, Hitchcock K, et al. - In this retrospective cohort study, researchers evaluated the features of opioid use in patients undergoing treatment for oropharynx cancer and identified risk factors correlated with chronic opioid use. The sample consisted of 198 eligible patients (average age was 62 years) who had radiotherapy as part of their treatment for oropharynx cancer at a single institution from 2012 to 2017. By pathology report review, p16/human papillomavirus (HPV) status was determined. To evaluate risk factors for chronic opioid use and effect on overall survival, statistical analysis was conducted. Data reported that 83% of patients had stage III/IV disease, and 73% received chemoradiotherapy. On multivariate analysis, T stage and anxiety/depression were linked to chronic opioid use. Overall survival was worse for patients with chronic use of opioid but was not significant when considering recurrence. After treatment, more than 50% of patients treated in this cohort for oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma were chronic users of opioids. In this patient population, identifying patients with the highest danger of chronic opioid use before therapy can assist with long-term pain management.