Cancer Pain Can be Treated: New Patient Guidelines Help Patients and Physicians Discuss Options

American Cancer Society
Tuesday, 3 April 2001

About one-third of the cancer patients in the U.S. suffer from significant pain. Pain can affect a patient in many ways. It can cause a reduction in activity, prevent sleep, and inhibit eating. Pain can also make a patient feel afraid and depressed.

Today, a new resource was made available to help cancer patients work more effectively with their doctors to make informed decisions about their available pain treatment options. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) announced the availability of their first supportive care patient guideline, Cancer Pain Treatment Guidelines for Patients.

"Patients have a right to appropriate pain assessment and management. This information will facilitate the process of informed decision-making by patients in collaboration with physicians and help assure that patients achieve the best possible pain relief," said Dr. Richard Payne, chief, pain & palliative care service, department of neurology, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York. MSKCC is one of 19 NCCN member institutions. "Often this pain can be substantially reduced or eliminated and patients can be made more comfortable during their battles with cancer," he added.

Misperceptions about the likelihood of drug addiction and abuse among cancer patients have resulted in avoidance of appropriate pain control by some patients. "Reactions to recent disturbing media coverage of drug addicts and painkiller abuse may ironically interfere with important efforts to appropriately manage cancer patients' pain," said Robert C. Young, MD, president-elect of the American Cancer Society and president of Fox Chase Cancer Center, another NCCN member institution. "In fact, when pain medicines are given and taken appropriately, patients rarely become addicted to them.

"Undertreatment of pain is a significant public health problem in our country, but the NCCN/ACS patient pain guidelines will give cancer patients and their families solid understanding and reasonable expectations to make them informed collaborators with their physicians in managing pain and preserving a good quality of life," added Dr. Young.

The patient guidelines are the result of a collaborative effort between NCCN and ACS and are derived directly from the professional oncology practice guidelines developed for physicians by the NCCN. The patient guidelines also provide background information on cancer pain, its causes, various treatment options and a glossary of terms.

"The NCCN/ACS Cancer Pain Treatment Guidelines for Patients is one of a series developed by the NCCN/ACS partnership. At this time, the NCCN/ACS patient guideline series includes breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon and rectal cancers. We provide these guidelines in plain, understandable language for patients and their families," said William T. McGivney, PhD, CEO of the NCCN. "We intend to develop patient guidelines for the ten most frequently occurring cancers and the major supportive care areas." Upcoming patient guidelines include lung cancer, ovarian cancer, myeloma, non-melanoma skin cancer, nausea and vomiting, and cancer-related fatigue. The publications are also being translated into Spanish.

To order a free copy of NCCN/ACS Cancer Pain Treatment Guidelines for Patients or any of the other NCCN patient guidelines, contact The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (1-888-909-NCCN) or The American Cancer Society (1-800-ACS-2345). You may also visit their web sites at www.nccn.org or www.cancer.org. Requests by e-mail may be made to patientinformation@nccn.org.

Founded in 1995, the NCCN is dedicated to advancing the missions of its member institutions in education, research and patient care. As part of its mission, the NCCN serves as the most authoritative source of cancer care information for health professionals based upon the expertise and input of its world-renowned clinicians.

For more than 85 years, the public has relied on the American Cancer Society for accurate, up-to-date information about cancer and its treatment. The American Cancer Society is the nationwide, community based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives and diminishing suffering from cancer through research, education, advocacy and service.

For more information, or to contact American Cancer Society, see their website at: www.cancer.org