Approaches to Cancer Pain Management

There are a variety of ways, but a multi-pronged approach is best.

Cancer-related pain doesn’t always stop when active treatment ends. Patients with stabilized disease or in remission are living longer due to earlier detection and better treatments. Managing chronic pain (six months or longer) is increasingly important. About 5% of the U.S. population are cancer survivors, 15.5 million people, according to “Pain in Cancer Survivors: How to Manage,” June 2019, Current Treatments in Oncology. Cancer-related pain can be from the disease itself, or due to treatment. Most cancer patients will experience pain at some point during their illness, says Jacob Strand, MD, chair of palliative care medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. About 80% to 90% of those with metastases, who are incurable, will have cancer-related pain, Strand says, as will up to 40% of cancer survivors overall.

Ideally, treating pain involves a multi-prong approach. That might mean some combination of physical therapy, behavioral therapy, blocks/injections, and medication. Not all health insurance covers an extensive approach, though undertreating pain impacts a patient’s health and quality of life substantially. As patients live longer after active treatment, oncologists see the patients less, leaving pain management in the hands of primary care physicians (PCP), who may not feel equipped to treat it.