Cancer-Related Neuropathic Pain

James M. Hitt, M.D., Ph.D.
Instructor in Anesthesiology
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, New York

Mark J. Lema, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Chairman

Department of Anesthesia
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, New York

Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Buffalo, New York

Introduction - TOP

Cancer remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, although improvements in detection and treatment have resulted in significant gains in survival rates in many types of cancer.1 Increased longevity and more aggressive treatment strategies can have a negative impact on patients' quality of life. Pain can be a presenting symptom for a variety of cancers, and cancer-related pain can arise at any point of the disease, with increasing frequencies with advanced or aggressive disease.

Cancer-related pain rarely presents as isolated somatic, visceral, or neuropathic pain, but is often a complex disease state with components of neuropathic, inflammatory, nociceptive, and ischemic pain pathology. While the absolute distinction between cancer- and non-cancer related neuropathic pain is somewhat artificial, cancer pathology and treatment presents some unique examples of neuropathic pain. Much of the scientific data on neuropathic pain and treatment comes from the study of non-cancerous pathology; recent attention has focused on studying cancer-related neuropathic pain.

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