Patients with lung cancer experience more
symptom distress than patients with other types of
cancers.3 Symptoms such as pain may be associated
with worsening of other symptoms including
depression and fatigue,4 and may affect quality of
life.5 It has been demonstrated that early palliative care
intervention, including good symptom management,
improves quality of life and may increase survival.6
Pain resulting from lung cancer can be classified by
two methods: either by the type of pain or according
to the origin of the pain. The location or origin of the
pain may determine the type of pain experienced.
Pain can also be affected by the histological type
and biological behavior of the lung cancer present.7
Pain in patients with lung cancer can be differentiated
according to its origin, namely intra-thoracic or extrathoracic,
the latter of which may be the consequence
of cancer complications