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Oncological Pain and Clinical Approaches

  • Chapter
International Manual of Oncology Practice

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Abstract

Cancer causes several physical manifestations, such as fatigue, nausea, vomiting or anorexia, but the most feared symptom is, undoubtedly, pain. It has the greatest impact on quality of life and, thus pain relief is of paramount importance. Pain may be present in any stage of the disease. It has been estimated that 33 % of patients who have completed curative treatment, 59 % of patients receiving treatment and 64 % of patients in an advanced metastatic stage experience pain, with no significant differences between the last two groups (van den Beuken-van Everdingen MH, de Rijke JM, Kessels AG, Schouten HC, van Kleef M, Patijn J, Ann Oncol 18:1437–1449, 2007).

Pain is a multidimensional experience that both is exacerbated and exacerbates depression and anxiety. Functioning impairment caused by pain leads to changes in subject’s social role with serious consequences in quality of life. Cancer pain should be considered in the “total pain” concept in order to characterize the multidimensional nature of the palliative patient’s pain experience that includes physical, psychological, social, and spiritual domains (Clark D, Soc Sci Med 49:727–736, 1999). Pain is related to a decreased ability to cope with the disease and there is increasing evidence that inadequate control may lead to poorer outcomes and increased mortality. The complexity of pain, especially in the context of an oncological disease with its strong emotional burden, imposes a multidisciplinary and holistic approach for optimal results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental Biology, Medical Research Centre of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto and Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, Porto, Portugal

    Daniel Humberto Pozza, Sara Gil-Mata & Andreia Fontoura Oliveira

  2. University of Otago Christchurch, 2 Riccarton Avenue, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Alice Turner

  3. Department Biomedical Sciences and Medicine, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal

    Ramon Andrade de Mello M.D., Ph.D.

  4. Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Ramon Andrade de Mello M.D., Ph.D.

  5. Institute of Preventive Medicine of Mãe de Deus Hospital, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Newton Barros

Authors
  1. Daniel Humberto Pozza
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  2. Sara Gil-Mata
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  3. Andreia Fontoura Oliveira
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  4. Alice Turner
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  5. Ramon Andrade de Mello M.D., Ph.D.
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  6. Newton Barros
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ramon Andrade de Mello M.D., Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Oncology, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal

    Ramon Andrade de Mello

  2. edificio 7, ala nascente, 3º andar, University of Algarve, Dept Cie Biomed edificio 7, ala nascente, 3º andar, Faro, Portugal

    Álvaro Tavares

  3. Medical Oncology, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Giannis Mountzios

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Pozza, D.H., Gil-Mata, S., Oliveira, A.F., Turner, A., de Mello, R.A., Barros, N. (2015). Oncological Pain and Clinical Approaches. In: de Mello, R., Tavares, Á., Mountzios, G. (eds) International Manual of Oncology Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21683-6_39

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