On the occasion of World Cancer Day last Wednesday, the German Society for Pain Medicine (DGS) and the German Pain League (DSL) presented the results of a nationwide patient survey with over 12,000 cancer patients. The survey shows considerable supply deficits in the treatment of tumor-related pain.

Almost 50 percent of those surveyed have been suffering from pain for more than five years, with an average duration of more than three years. Around 45 percent have neuropathic pain, which is often caused by chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgical procedures. One third of those affected report permanently inadequately controlled pain, almost half of them extreme breakthrough pain. Only one in three receives appropriate emergency medication for breakthrough pain.

More than half of those affected report a severely reduced quality of life, with common consequences being sleep disorders, social isolation and depressive symptoms.

In many patients, pain is described as a chronic long-term problem that is underestimated, especially in long-term survivors after successful tumor therapy. Structured treatment concepts for this group are largely lacking. Cancer survival is more often possible today, so tumor pain must be systematically treated as an independent disease.

DGS and DSL therefore demand:

• routine pain assessment in oncology, including long-term survivors,
• improved training and further education of doctors in modern pain therapy,
• Low-threshold access to effective medication, especially for the treatment of breakthrough pain.

The survey underlines that despite advances in cancer therapy, tumor-related pain is a persistent and serious problem for many patients.

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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