ABOUT CANCER PAIN
CAN CANCER BE PAINFUL?
"Cancer" refers to any one of a large number of diseases. People with cancer have abnormal cells in their bodies that divide uncontrollably and can destroy normal body tissue. Cancer can spread throughout the body. Often, cancer or its treatment causes pain.
Cancer that has metastasized, or moved to surrounding bone, can affect quality of life, producing complications such as pain, fractures, and decreased mobility.1 In addition to these symptoms, bone metastases can cause mood changes such as depression and anxiety.2
THE CAUSES OF CANCER PAIN
There are several biological reasons you may feel cancer pain:
- Cancer treatment such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy
- Scar tissue resulting from surgery or cancer treatment
- Tumor growth that invades or presses on bones, nerves, the spinal cord, or body organs
1 IN 3
CANCER PATIENTS
Are left with inadequate treatment or undermanaged pain control because treatments like opioids, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy did not work for them.3
BONE CANCER TREATMENT OPTIONS
If you are living with cancer pain, you may think it is a natural part of the disease or its treatment and is something that must be endured. You may have decided that side effects from pain medications must be tolerated in exchange for pain control — but managing pain is possible.
Medtronic offers two treatment options for cancer pain — radiofrequency ablation (RF) and targeted drug delivery (TDD) — so you can do more of the everyday things that make life special.
Goetz, et al. Percutaneous Image-Guided Radiofrequency Ablation of Painful Metastases Involving Bone: A Multicenter Study. J Clin Oncol. 2004; 22 (2): 300-306.
Spiegel D, et al. Pain and depression in patients with cancer. Cancer. 1994;74:2570-2578.
Anselmetti, et al. Treatment of Extraspinal Painful Bone Metastases with Percutaneous Cementoplasty: A Prospective Study of 50 Patients. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol. 2008;31:1165-1173.