Is Using Pain Killers The Best Way To Treat Cancer Pain?

Dr. Kathleen M. Foley answers the question: 'Pain Killers Best For Cancer Pain?'

By
Kathleen M. Foley, M.D., Attending Neurologist, Pain and Palliative Care Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
November 14, 2008, 1:26 PM ET
1 min read

— -- Question: Is Using Pain Killers The Best Way To Treat Cancer Pain?

Answer: There are many different ways to treat patients with pain in cancer, and clearly the best treatment is to diagnose the cause of the pain and to treat it with specific cancer treatments. The next line of therapy typically is to use analgesic drugs, or what are referred to as pain killers. And these often are most effective to manage the acute pain a patient may have, to be able to provide them with pain relief when they're receiving their radiotherapy, their chemotherapy, or their surgery, and then to be used in those patients for which those other cancer treatments are not effective. So, basically, yes. Pain killers are the best way, but they play a specific role in each stage of the patient's cancer.

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