The need for early cancer pain treatment

  Cancer pain is a sensation caused by the transmission of information to the nerve center about the need to repair or regulate the pain site, alias, cancer pain, advanced cancer pain, and is one of the main causes of pain in patients with advanced cancer. Among pain patients, 50% to 80% of pain is not effectively controlled due to various reasons.  Cancer pain is usually treated mainly by medication, and surgical treatment often needs to be considered in the context of the patient’s overall physical condition and survival. After the causes of pain are clearly identified and treated, the analgesic effect and the degree of pain relief must be evaluated in order to formulate the future treatment plan and drug dosage.  (1) Principles of drug treatment for cancer pain: ①Try to administer drugs orally for long-term use, which can reduce dependence and addiction.  (2) Give the medication regularly and on time, instead of giving it when pain occurs.  (3) Give medication according to the step, according to the “three step therapy” recommended by WHO for cancer pain.  ④The medication should be individualized.  ⑤ Pay attention to the use of anxiolytic, antidepressant and hormonal drugs, which can improve the effect of analgesic treatment.  (2) The “three-step therapy” of cancer pain medication: ① First step – non-opioid analgesics: used for patients with mild cancer pain, the main drugs are aspirin, acetaminophen (paracetamol), etc. Adjuvant drugs can be applied as appropriate.  The main drugs include codeine, which is generally recommended to be used in combination with the first-tier drugs because the mechanism of action of the two types of drugs is different, with the first-tier drugs acting mainly on the peripheral nervous system and the second-tier drugs acting mainly on the central nervous system. The combination of the two drugs can enhance the analgesic effect. Adjuvant drugs can also be used as needed.  The main drug is morphine, and adjuvant drugs can also be used as appropriate.        2.Surgical treatment (1)Posterior median posterior cord dissection (PMM): animal experiments and cadaveric neuroanatomy have confirmed that most of the upstream conduction pathways of visceral nociception are upstream through the dorsal column of the spinal cord, especially for the conduction of visceral nociception in the pelvis and lower abdomen, the role of the dorsal column of the spinal cord even exceeds that of the thalamic tract of the spinal cord. In 1997, Nauta et al. were the first to report a case of thoracic 8 PMM for the treatment of advanced recalcitrant pelvic and lower abdominal visceral pain in cervical cancer with definite efficacy. 1999, Becker et al. in Germany also reported a case of lung cancer with epigastric and mid-abdominal pain after surgery, and thoracic 4 PMM significantly relieved the pain symptoms. 2000, KimYS et al. in Korea reported successful 8 cases of thoracic 1 to 2 segmental PMM were administered, all of which were abdominal visceral pain caused by gastric cancer, and the pain relief effect was positive.  (2) Spinal cord pain relief surgery: According to the different locations and characteristics of cancerous visceral pain, posterior spinal nerve root dissection, anterolateral spinal cord bundle dissection and anterior joint spinal cord dissection are considered. Since surgery destroys spinal cord structures and is prone to other complications such as motor or sensory impairment, it should be carefully selected in the light of the patient’s overall functional status.  Cancer pain is not a sign that cancer has progressed to an advanced stage; pain can also occur in the early stages of cancer. If not actively treated, long-term pain can seriously affect the quality of life of patients and their families, such as poor sleep and appetite, causing depression, anxiety, loneliness, and other adverse emotions, and in some cases, light-hearted thoughts. All these factors will lead to the decrease of patients’ autoimmunity and resistance to disease, which will give the tumor a chance to develop further. Aggressive pain management can bring most of the cancer pain under adequate control or at least relieve some of the pain. Good pain control helps to: improve patients’ appetite and sleep, enable patients’ bad mood to be improved, enable patients to live with dignity, improve patients’ physical fitness and immunity, and have a chance to receive better treatment. Therefore, early cancer pain treatment can not only improve patients’ quality of life, but also prolong the survival period.