Chronic pain and childhood cancer survivorship

Abstract

Research advances has led to an increased survival for childhood cancer and importantly, recognition of the quality of that survivorship. Unfortunately, adult survivors of childhood cancers often suffer an array of adverse health related side-effects arising from necessary treatment. A highly prevalent complication that occurs many years after cessation of treatment, is the long-term alterations in sensory perception. This is typically presented as pain as a young adult, with the number of patients reporting pain becoming an indeterminate complication. Recent investigations present the development of rodent models that allow the exploration of causative factors that initiate childhood cancer survivorship pain. Here we provide an overview that highlights the significant burden that survivorship pain has upon paediatric cancer patients.