Bridging Gaps: Clinical and Ethical Challenges for Patients with Addiction and Cancer

Saturday, April 25, 2026

1:30 PM - 2:45 PM PT

Location: America's Cup, Level 4

Presenter(s)

Janet J. Ho, MD MPH FAAHPM FASAM

Associate Professor
University of California, San Francisco
san francisco, California

Slides Handouts
Katrina S. Nickels, MD, DFASAM

Assistant Professor
University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Lexington, Kentucky
A. Justine Landi, MD, MPH

Associate Professor
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Julie W. Childers, MD, FASAM

Professor of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Participants in this interactive session will explore cases at the challenging intersection of addiction, pain, and cancer. Clinicians boarded in addiction and palliative medicine guide participants through clinical tools and scenarios that: prioritize options for managing concurrent addiction and cancer pain, approach a differential and treatment options for chronic cancer pain and prescription OUD versus OUD, and consider ethical responsibilities in addiction and cancer treatment when patient autonomy conflicts with clinical care in the ‘best interest’ of the patient.

Learning Objectives:

Learners will be able to:

Apply a multi-dimensional assessment/ 4P framework to help prioritize more appropriate and safer opioid options in patients with pain, cancer, and addiction
Compare features and management approaches for chronic cancer pain and OUD or prescription OUD or Complex persistent opioid dependence
Examine ethical and clinical considerations when patients with untreated OUD and cancer decline medications for OUD, cancer treatment, and resuscitation

Disclosure(s):

Janet J. Ho, MD MPH: No financial relationships to disclose

Katrina S. Nickels, MD, DFASAM: No financial relationships to disclose

A. Justine Landi, MD, MPH: No financial relationships to disclose

Julie W. Childers, MD, FASAM: No financial relationships to disclose