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Pain in cancer may arise from a tumor compressing or infiltrating nearby body parts; from treatments and diagnostic procedures; or from skin, nerve and other changes caused by a hormone imbalance or immune response. Most chronic (long-lasting) pain is caused by the illness and most acute (short-term) pain is caused by treatment or diagnostic procedures. However, radiotherapy and chemotherapy may produce painful conditions that persist long after treatment has ended. The presence of pain depends mainly on the location of the cancer and the stage of the disease. At any given time, about half of all patients with malignant cancer are experiencing pain, and two thirds of those with advanced cancer experience pain of such intensity that it adversely affects their sleep, mood, social relations and activities of daily living.〔 With competent management, cancer pain can be eliminated or well controlled in 80 to 90 percent of cases, but nearly one in two patients in the developed world receives less than optimal care. Worldwide, nearly 80 percent of people with cancer receive little or no pain medication. Guidelines for the use of drugs in the management of cancer pain have been published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and others.〔〔 Healthcare professionals have an ethical obligation to ensure that, whenever possible, the patient or patient's guardian is well-informed about the risks and benefits associated with their pain management options. Adequate pain management may sometimes slightly shorten a dying patient's life.〔 ==Pain== (詳細はacute (short term) or chronic (long term). Chronic pain may be continuous with occasional sharp rises in intensity (flares), or intermittent: periods of painlessness interspersed with periods of pain. Despite pain being well controlled by long-acting drugs or other treatment, flares may occasionally be felt; this is called breakthrough pain, and is treated with quick-acting analgesics.〔 The majority of patients with chronic pain notice memory and attention difficulties. Objective psychological testing has found problems with memory, attention, verbal ability, mental flexibility and thinking speed. Pain is also associated with increased depression, anxiety, fear, and anger. Persistent pain reduces function and overall quality of life, and is demoralizing and debilitating for patients and those who care for them. Pain's intensity is distinct from its unpleasantness. For example, it is possible through psychosurgery and some drug treatments, or by suggestion (as in hypnosis and placebo), to reduce or eliminate the unpleasantness of pain without affecting its intensity. Sometimes, pain caused in one part of the body feels like it is coming from another part of the body. This is called referred pain. Pain in cancer can be produced by mechanical (e.g. pinching) or chemical (e.g. inflammation) stimulation of specialized pain-signalling nerve endings found in most parts of the body, or it may be caused by diseased or damaged nerves, in which case it is called neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain is often accompanied by other feelings such as pins and needles. The patient's description is the best measure of pain; they will usually be asked to estimate intensity on a scale of 0–10 (with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain they have ever felt).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「cancer pain」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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