Analgesics for cancer pain

Although current pain management techniques are efficacious in many patients, there remain many patients in whom pain is inadequately controlled. This eight-chapter work from internationally recognized experts provides a thorough overview of this challenging and topical issue. The book's first chapter examines the complexity of clinical cancer pain, the importance of proper assessment for adequate treatment, barriers to effective pain relief and approaches toward better understanding of the patient's therapeutic needs. Many patients reporting moderate to severe cancer pain are treated with opioid analgesics, and options for such therapies are discussed in the following chapters. Various adjuvant analgesics for cancer pain are also addressed and there is discussion of the issue of breakthrough pain, outlining its definition and assessment. The final two chapters address emerging analgesics and future directions.