The interdisciplinary management of cancer pain

Abstract

For most patients, the most feared effect of cancer is the pain associated with the disease and its treatments. Poorly controlled pain in patients with cancer leads to suffering, poor nutrition, decreased compliance with treatment regimens, and increased mortality. Obviously, effective pain control is one of the pillars of effective global treatment of cancer in general. Historically, the treatment of pain in the cancer population was the responsibility of the medical oncologist, with escalating doses of opioids being the main form of therapy. Breakthroughs in diagnosis and treatment of cancer have led to patients living longer and potentially surviving this disease. Simple single-modal therapy with oral opioids fails to achieve adequate pain control in a significant percentage of patients. The interdisciplinary model for the management of cancer has long been a standard of practice, with collaboration among medical, radiation, and surgical oncologists. In this article, we describe an analogous approach to the management of cancer pain with collaboration among different specialties involved in the management of these patients.