About one-third of patients being treated for cancer have pain. Also, more than two-thirds of those whose cancer has spread or recurred have pain. Controlling pain and managing symptoms are important goals of treatment. Further, pain affects patients' quality of life in many ways.
Cancer pain is a common problem that can be treated by a patient's cancer care team.
Everyone feels pain differently so it is important for patients to be able to describe their pain to their doctor or nurse. Acute pain is severe and lasts a relatively short time. Typically it is a signal that body tissue is being injured and generally disappears when the injury heals. Chronic or persistent pain may range from mild to severe and is present to some degree for long periods of time. There are a variety of ways to treat cancer pain, so patients should tell their doctors if their current treatment is not working so that other treatments can be tried.