Fifty-three percent of all patients with cancer experience pain and 59 percent of patients receiving anticancer treatment report pain. Most of the pain experienced when a patient has cancer is caused by the illness itself. Tumors can compress, invade, or infiltrate the bone, tissue, vascular and nervous system. Some cancer pain is the result of the diagnosis and treatment of cancer or of infection of areas surrounding the tumor.
Cancer pain may be dull or sharp and can be moderate, mild, or severe. It can be intermittent or constant. Cancer pain treatment is aimed at removing the source of the pain through treatment or managing the pain with medication and alternative therapies so as to provide patients with a good quality of life and an optimal level of functioning.
Common Treatments: