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Cancer patients are scarcely better cared for today than they were ten years ago
The situation of people with cancer has changed little in the last ten years. This is shown by a new study presented at the European Pain Congress in Vienna. Despite high hopes due to new treatments, just as many sufferers suffer from pain as before.
For cancer patients, hardly anything has changed
Despite great efforts and new treatment methods, little has changed in the last decade that pain among cancer patients is widespread. About half of those affected suffer from pain, with more than a third feeling that it is moderate to severe. This is the result of a study presented on Saturday at the European Pain Congress in Vienna, Austria. As the news agency APA reports, the sobering result comes from a meta-analysis, for which several existing scientific studies have been evaluated.
The care of cancer patients has not gotten better. Picture: drubig-photo - fotolia A lot of time and money are invested in the research
For decades, enormous amounts of manpower and money have gone into better research into cancer. Significant progress has also been made in some areas. For example, today certain types of cancer, such as breast or colon cancer, can be better treated or recognized earlier. However, research continues unabated. At present, the study results of scientists in Brazil and the UK have great expectations. The researchers found that a particular wasp poison can destroy tumor cells and possibly cure cancer in the future.
New treatments aroused expectations
Also, the question of how to get a better grip on the pain of cancer patients has received a lot of attention over the past ten years. In addition, the many treatments developed over the past decade raised great expectations. However, the findings of a Maastricht research group are rather sobering. "The situation of those affected has hardly changed. Today, fewer and fewer cancer patients suffer from pain than ten years ago, "said study author Marieke van den Beuken-van Everdingen.
Innovations did not alleviate the suffering
Ten years ago, a research group at the University Hospital Maastrich (Netherlands) had already investigated the extent to which pain is widespread among cancer patients. In a recent literature review, a total of 122 selected works from the years between 2005 and 2014 were evaluated. The current average values were compared with those of ten years ago. Van den Beuken-van Everdingen regretted that efforts and innovation did not appear to relieve patient suffering. Ten years ago, 33 percent of patients suffered from pain after a tumor treatment; according to the latest results, it was almost 38 percent.
Slight improvement during treatment
On the positive side, the situation improved slightly during treatment. While 59 percent had pain during treatment ten years ago, it is now 55 percent. About two-thirds of patients who are in the advanced, metastatic, or end stages of their disease are currently suffering from pain, ten years ago, at 64 percent, this was little different. In studies in which all stages of the disease were analyzed together, the researchers concluded that pain persisted in every second cancer patient, and over one-third are moderately to severely affected. (Ad)