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Memorial Sloan-Kettering was the first cancer center in the United States to have an interdisciplinary service devoted specifically to treating pain in cancer patients.
Here, pain experts continue to pioneer the use of new drugs and novel methods of drug delivery. Allied interventions such as cognitive-behavioral approaches and relaxation are also used.
The Science of Cancer Pain Management
Over the past two decades, Memorial Sloan-Kettering staff have led the evolution of guidelines for cancer pain management based on rigorous laboratory and clinical research.
Our doctors helped develop the World Health Organization's three-step approach to cancer pain management and the US Agency for Health Care Policy and Research clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of cancer pain, both of which have been validated by large randomized clinical studies.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering continues to make significant contributions to the understanding and effective treatment of pain, including the following key areas of research:
- identifying pain syndromes specific to cancer patients
- tracing the neurologic mechanisms of pain, and the relationship of social and psychological factors with pain
- establishing accurate methods of pain assessment
- correlating levels of treatment with the pain relief they provide
Appropriate Pain Management for Every Stage of Cancer Treatment
A center-wide program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering ensures that patients who have pain are identified and treated appropriately and effectively.
- Nurses are provided with information about pain, pain assessment, and pain management, and that knowledge is applied in practice. Patients are asked twice a day if they have pain. Their responses are documented as the fifth vital sign and are recorded on the patient's vital sign sheet. Patients are encouraged to report to their nurse or doctor when pain occurs, and its intensity is assessed on a scale of 0 to 10. Every effort is made to provide each patient with adequate analgesia and ongoing assessment.
- Because of shorter hospital stays, most cancer pain now occurs in the home. To help patients, caregivers, local clinicians, and community pharmacists control pain that extends beyond the hospital stay, a hospital-affiliated supportive care program can help bring pain management and palliative care to the patient's home. The Supportive Care Program of Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Pain and Palliative Care Service is pioneering this concept in long-term symptom management.
- Through clinical practice, collaboration with other health care providers, and influence on professional standards, Memorial Sloan-Kettering plays a leading role in advancing pain management, improving access to pain treatments and palliative care, and educating doctors and nurses about current priniciples and techniques. Recently, our clinicians contributed to recommendations and standards enacted by the American Pain Foundation, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and the National Cancer Policy Board.
