Cancer pain: Specificities and treatment

Abstract

Cancer pain is often the first sign of a malignant disease. At the time of the diagnosis of a malignant disease, about 30-40% of patients have pain, and at an advanced stage around 70-80%, which leads to a bad physical and emotional state of the patient. Improved survival leads to an increase in prevalence, either with life-prolonging or curative treatment, which leads to an increased number of patients who experience the pain. For successful pain treatment, it is important to have a good and detailed pain assessment. Neuropathic pain is defined as 'pain caused by a primary lesion or dysfunction of the nervous system'. A special form of neuropathic pain is neuropathic pain of cancer origin. CIPN is a chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, it is a type of neuropathic pain, it has a recognizable symptomatology, an uncertain prognosis and there is no prevention. Patients complain of pain in the distal to more proximal parts of the extremities, distributed in the form of socks and gloves, tingling, burning, electric shocks, numbness, insensitivity or excessive sensitivity to touch. In general, neuropathic pain, apart from the painful physical component of the chronic course, affects the emotional experience and causes a generalized anxiety disorder, and can also lead to depression.