M.D. Pain occurs in more than 80 percent of cancer patients before death. At present, more than 4 million people are suffering from cancer pain worldwide. Because of its high prevalence and lack of adequate treatment, the World Health Organization declared pain a world medical emergency in 1986. Since then, the lay public and medical literature have been flooded with information regarding cancer pain management. Despite this, there still exist many barriers to treatment, which include insufficient physician knowledge.
Cancer pain remains an undertreated and neglected public health problem.
In 1994, the U.S. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research released guidelines for cancer pain management, which broadened the definition of pain management to include not only pain relief, but improving quality of life. By utilizing this type of model in clinical research, we may also gain a better understanding of cancer pain, its therapies and associated side effects, and be able to direct care in terms of maximizing quality of life. It is not surprising that patients, their families and physicians create barriers to adequate cancer pain control. The current economics of medicine, including access to care, opioids and technology are often barriers to the optimal delivery of cancer pain therapy. In addition, patients interpret their pain differently based upon their personal experience or ethnicity, impeding adequate pain assessment.