Cancer pain. Epidemiology and syndromes.

Medical practitioners face the challenge of assuring that pain management has a central place in the treatment of patients with cancer. To meet this challenge, they must understand the prevalence of pain in cancer patients, the frequency with which cancer pain goes untreated or is inadequately managed, and the numerous causes and manifestations of cancer pain. With the goal of contributing to this understanding, this article summarizes the current knowledge about the epidemiology of cancer pain and its syndromes.