16 Facts About Cancer pain

Presence of pain depends mainly on the location of the cancer and the stage of the disease.

Guidelines for the use of drugs in the management of cancer pain have been published by the World Health Organization and others.

Sometimes, Cancer pain caused in one part of the body feels like it is coming from another part of the body.

Neuropathic Cancer pain is often accompanied by other feelings such as pins and needles.

About 75 percent of cancer pain is caused by the illness itself; most of the remainder is caused by diagnostic procedures and treatment.

Related searches

Cancer pain treatment aims to relieve pain with minimal adverse treatment effects, allowing the person a good quality of life and level of function and a relatively painless death.

Person whose Cancer pain cannot be well controlled should be referred to a palliative care or Cancer pain management specialist or clinic.

Strategies employed by people to cope with cancer pain include enlisting the help of others; persisting with tasks despite pain; distraction; rethinking maladaptive ideas; and prayer or ritual.

The few studies so far conducted into catastrophizing in cancer pain have suggested that it is associated with higher levels of pain and psychological distress.

People with cancer pain who accept that pain will persist and nevertheless are able to engage in a meaningful life were less susceptible to catastrophizing and depression in one study.

People with cancer pain who have clear goals, and the motivation and means to achieve those goals, were found in two studies to experience much lower levels of pain, fatigue and depression.

Psychosocial interventions affect the amount of pain experienced and the degree to which it interferes with daily life; and the American Institute of Medicine and the American Pain Society support the inclusion of expert, quality-controlled psychosocial care as part of cancer pain management.

WHO guidelines recommend prompt oral administration of drugs when Cancer pain occurs, starting, if the person is not in severe Cancer pain, with non-opioid drugs such as paracetamol, dipyrone, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or COX-2 inhibitors.

Pancoast tumor Cancer pain has been effectively treated with dorsal root entry zone lesioning ; this is major surgery that carries the risk of significant neurological side effects.

In Canada, for instance, veterinarians get five times more training in Cancer pain than do physicians, and three times more training than nurses.

The 1994 Medical Treatment Act of the Australian Capital Territory states that a "patient under the care of a health professional has a right to receive relief from Cancer pain and suffering to the maximum extent that is reasonable in the circumstances".