Managing cancer pain: increased comfort and survival?

摘要: There is a significant amount of interest in human medicine in cancer pain, both interest in the neurobiology of the pain, and interest in novel methods to alleviate cancer pain. However we know little about the relationship between pain and cancer in animals. In 1978, Yoxall1 stated that,“It is surprising, for instance, how much a dog's quality of life, observed by the owner, may be improved by the administration of a simple analgesic if the dog is suffering from a tumour, which although painless on palpation, may be causing considerable chronic pain.” Despite this statement and the fact that obvious pain associated with specific tumours such as osteosarcoma has been emphasized for a long time as a diagnostic criterion, there is a complete absence of controlled studies primarily investigating the potential occurrence of cancer pain in companion animals and a complete absence of studies primarily investigating the alleviation of pain in animals suffering from cancer. There is almost nothing written about cancer pain in animals. In one of the recent and most comprehensive books on pain management, only 13 of 177 pages are devoted specifically to chronic pain in animals. In one of the most recent and comprehensive books on small animal clinical oncology, only 13 of 683 pages are devoted to pain control in cancer patients.