While not every one of the 11.4 million Americans currently living with cancer suffer from pain associated with their disease, enough do so that pain management is a major aspect of cancer treatment. The best way to control pain is to catch it when the sensation is still relatively mild, before it escalates into more severe pain. Patients may be reluctant to ask for more effective pain control for fear that they may become addicted to analgesic medications. However when opioids are taken to relieve pain, they only rarely cause addiction.

Cancer pain is associated with several underlying causes. Somatic pain is pain that arises from the body: Soma is the Greek word for "body." Somatic pain can be associated with pain receptors on the surface of the skin or with pain receptors lying in the deep tissues. Pain associated with the former is easily pinpointed and tends to be experienced as a sharp, burning sensation; pain associated with the latter is more difficult to localize and is described as a dull ache.

Visceral pain is pain that is felt in internal organs such as the liver, kidneys or bladder. These organs are not well endowed with nerve endings so it is difficult for patients experiencing this type of pain to identify its exact cause. Pain receptors are activated when tumors put pressure on internal organs, when connective tissues and other viscera are stretched by the tumors or when the cancer actually invades the organs through a process known as metastasis.

Finally, neuropathic pain is pain that arises from damage to the pain receptors themselves. Neurons may injured by the pressure a tumor exerts or they may suffer chemical damage secondary to cancer treatments like chemotherapy, surgery or radiation.

The important thing for patients, their loved ones and their physicians to remember is that most pain can be controlled. The best way to control pain is to remove the underlying source of the pain. WSith cancer patients this may be accomplished by using radiation to shrink a tumor or surgery to remove all or part of a tumor. In some instances, however, this is not possible and pain control must be accomplished through the use of medications.

Cancer patients whose pain is not alleviated may not be able to muster the strength they need to fight their disease. Pain interferes with sleep and may depress both their appetites and their moods. Proper pain control is an important part of any cancer treatment.