A Comprehensive Analysis of the Cancer Chronic Pain Experience: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Cancer-related chronic pain (CP) represents a critical clinical issue through the disease, severely compromising the quality of life (QoL) of patients and the family environment. The current review employed a narrative method to synthesize the main results about the impact of cancer-related CP on QoL, adopting a multidimensional and threefold vision: patients, caregivers, and patient–caregiver perspective. Evidence emphasizes the importance of considering a bidirectional perspective (patient–caregiver) to understand better the pain experience throughout the cancer continuum and its consequences on QoL of patients and caregivers. Moreover, a holistic and multidimensional approach to cancer-related CP and its impact on QoL of patients and caregivers is still needed, in which the interconnection between physical, psychological, and social factors should be analyzed. Theoretical and methodological issues for orienting future social and family research initiatives were discussed.

Usability Testing of a New Digital Integrated Health Ecosystem (PainRELife) for the Clinical Management of Chronic Pain in Patients With Early Breast Cancer: Protocol for a Pilot Study

“…The PainRELife app has been designed following 3 different steps. First, an extensive and qualitative literature analysis has been performed to define the main issues for patients with breast cancer experiencing CP [ 36 ]. In addition, the impact of CP on psychological functioning has been analyzed as the role of the caregivers in the management of the CP experience and how CP impacts different dimensions of the quality of life (sexuality, employment, and returning to work, and psycho-emotional and social determinants).…”

“…In addition, the impact of CP on psychological functioning has been analyzed as the role of the caregivers in the management of the CP experience and how CP impacts different dimensions of the quality of life (sexuality, employment, and returning to work, and psycho-emotional and social determinants). Furthermore, unmet needs in managing CP were evaluated considering multilevel determinants such as sociodemographic, psychological, social, and clinical variables [ 36 ]. Finally, the role of technologies in the health care system has been explored to understand the most important aspects that should be considered in the design and development of health technologies.…”

Cancer aggravation due to persistent pain signals with the increased expression of pain-related mediators in sensory neurons of tumor-bearing mice

“…It has been reported that more than half of cancer patients experience pain, and in the late stage most cancer patients experience moderate to severe pain [5,6]. Recent studies have shown that persistent pain reduces patients' quality of life (QOL) and decreases survival rates in a variety of diseases [7][8][9][10][11]. These reports suggest that cancer pain contributes to worsening of the cancer pathology.…”

Cancer Patients with Chronic Pain and Their Caregivers during COVID-19: A Descriptive Study

“…Based on its duration, pain can be categorized as acute or chronic, with chronic pain lasting longer than three months [ 2 ]. Chronic pain in particular affects 40–70% of the patients with a cancer diagnosis and approximately 32% of these cases are estimated to be undertreated, which compromises the Quality of Life (QoL) of both patients and their caregivers [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Additionally, pain leads to an increase in medical expenditures and significant economic costs [ 9 ].…”

“…The recent evidence emphasizes the importance of considering a dyadic perspective (patient–caregiver) to the understanding of the pain experience and of its impact on the QoL of both patients and caregivers [ 5 ].…”