The Epidemiology of Cancer Pain

Abstract

We identified 28 epidemiological surveys by applying a sensitive search in Medline and CancerLit databases, supplemented by hand searches. Only two surveys enrolled more than 10,000 patients with cancer. The remaining were hospital or clinic-based surveys of at most a few hundred patients. Fourteen surveys were conducted in the United States. The majority of the remaining studies were conducted in Europe (Finland, France, Germany, UK/Ireland). No single survey identified a prevalence of any type of pain below 14%. The prevalence of pain reported in these surveys varies with the specific type of pain (e.g., breakthrough pain) and/or population studied. Based on these surveys an aggregate statement could not be deduced regarding the correlation between the occurrence of pain and patient factors, disease characteristics, the setting in which care is provided (e.g., primary care or specialized oncology or pain treatment clinics), or specific treatments directed towards the underlying disease and its associated pain. However, these surveys suggest that a significant number of patients with cancer worldwide will, during the course of their disease, experience pain that requires medical and/or other treatment.

Symptom Management in Metastatic Breast Cancer

“…Pain is among the most common and most distressing symptoms in cancer, with 73% of patients reporting pain at hospital admission [12]. Pain may be categorized as "nociceptive" pain (caused by tissue damage) and "neuropathic" pain (caused by dysfunction of the nervous system) [13].…”

Physical exercise as adjuvant therapy for patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

“…The types of physical and psychosocial problems that are most relevant to the current review include: (a) loss of physical performance/fitness, [10][11][12][13][14] (b) fatigue, 8,10,[15][16][17][18][19] (c) distress, 20,21 (d) emotional problems (anxiety, depressions and so on) 10,21 and (e) immunological/hematological changes. 22 In addition, common somatic side effects (GVHD, infections, diarrhea, nausea, pain and so on 2,10,19,[23][24][25] ) likely exacerbated the physical and psychological problems.…”

How Well Do Medical Oncologists Manage Chronic Cancer Pain? A National Survey

“…Chronic pain is highly prevalent among populations with metastatic solid tumors [1][2][3][4][5][6], and pain management is widely considered to be a best practice in oncology. Pain management relies on opioid-based pharmacotherapy, and there is a strong consensus that long-term opioid therapy can provide satisfactory relief to a large majority of patients [7,8].…”