Importance of Controlling Cancer Pain 1.2 Importance of Controlling Cancer Pain.
Pain control merits high priority for two reasons.
First, unrelieved pain causes unnecessary suffering. Because pain diminishes activity, appetite, and sleep, it can further weaken already debilitated patients. The psychological effect of cancer pain can be devastating. Patients with cancer often lose hope when pain emerges, believing that pain heralds the inexorable progress of a feared, destructive, and fatal disease. Chronic unrelieved pain can lead patients to reject active treatment programs, and when their pain is severe or they are depressed, to consider or commit suicide.