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Using Animal Models to Understand Cancer Pain in Humans

  • Cancer Pain (D Marcus, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Cancer pain is not a single entity but a complex pain state involving different pain syndromes, with inflammatory, neuropathic, compressive, and ischaemic mechanisms. Current therapeutic regimens are based largely on opioids, although opioid treatment can lead to many side effects. Studies using animal models of cancer pain are aimed at understanding cancer pain and developing novel therapies. The most frequently reported models are of bone cancer pain, predominantly modelling pain associated with tumour growth within bone marrow. Here we summarise recent findings from studies using animal models of cancer pain and discuss the methodological quality of these studies.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Gillian L. Currie, Dr. Emily S. Sena, Dr. Marie T. Fallon, Dr. Malcolm R. Macleod and Dr. Lesley A. Colvin each declare no potential conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Chancellor’s Building, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Gillian L. Currie, Emily S. Sena & Malcolm R. Macleod

  2. Edinburgh Cancer Research UK Centre, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK

    Marie T. Fallon

  3. Department of Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK

    Lesley A. Colvin

  4. Stroke Division, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Emily S. Sena

Authors
  1. Gillian L. Currie
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  2. Emily S. Sena
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  3. Marie T. Fallon
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  4. Malcolm R. Macleod
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  5. Lesley A. Colvin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Malcolm R. Macleod.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Cancer Pain

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Currie, G.L., Sena, E.S., Fallon, M.T. et al. Using Animal Models to Understand Cancer Pain in Humans. Curr Pain Headache Rep 18, 423 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-014-0423-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-014-0423-6

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