Prevalence and Severity of Pain in Cancer Patients in Germany

Abstract

Pain is a common symptom in cancer patients, restricts daily life activities and reduces survival time. Identification of sociodemographic, medical and psychological correlates of pain among cancer patients in Germany could help identify subgroups most in need of pain management. In this multicenter, epidemiologic cross-sectional study, we assessed pain prevalence and severity, quality of life (QoL) and psychological distress in a sample of 3,745 cancer patients across all tumor entities. In total, 37.9% patients suffered from cancer-related pain and 56.1% suffered from non-specific pain. Younger, female, less educated and unemployed patients reported pain more frequently and more severe pain (p < 0.001). Pain was associated with distress, depression, anxiety, QoL, tumor stage (p < 0.001), and time since diagnosis (p = 0.012). Pain assessment and pain management should be a routine part of cancer treatment and cancer survivorship care plans.

Chronic pain in Chile: first prevalence report of noncancer chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and neuropathic pain and its associated factors

“…Data on CNCP are limited, 51 and epidemiological studies on CP generally aggregate cancer and noncancer pain, although these conditions need different treatment approach. 50,51 Despite pain affects almost 40% of cancer patients, 10 cancer only affects approximately 0.6% of the world's general population, according to the WHO. Therefore, the percentage of CP given by cancer pain is small, and we exclude it from this study to get the CNCP rate.…”

Distinct molecular mechanisms contribute to the reduction of melanoma growth and tumor pain after systemic and local depletion of alpha‐Synuclein in mice

“…Both global inhibition and specific αSyn depletion in tumor cells decrease melanoma‐associated pain and reduce melanoma tumor growth, and thus may be appropriate for the treatment of melanoma patients. Since cancer‐associated pain is a severe symptom in patients with progressive melanoma and metastasis 52 and significantly affects the quality of life of these patients, the dual antitumorigenic and potentially secondary antinociceptive effects of aSyn inhibition would provide a strong potential for improvement. In addition, clinical trials in PD patients using molecules specifically targeting αSyn show good tolerability and safety 53 .…”

Impact of worst pain severity and morning fatigue profiles on oncology outpatients’ symptom burden and quality of life

“…An equally plausible hypothesis to explain the co-occurrence of these symptoms is that unrelieved pain can lead to increases in depressive symptoms, anxiety, sleep disturbance, and fatigue, and decreases in attentional function. 54,64,65 Of note, the pain scores in the three worst classes were in the severe range and were associated with moderate levels of interference with function.…”

“…In addition, associations between unrelieved pain and depression in oncology patients are well documented. 54 Of note, patients in the three highest profiles reported CES-D scores near (i.e., subsyndromal depression 55 ) or over the clinically meaningful cutoff score of >16.0. These findings suggest that clinicians need to assess for the co-occurrence of all three symptoms, determine underlying causes, and initiate appropriate interventions.…”