Psychological interventions and pain control in breast cancer patients

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the world and the most common cancer among women. Pain is a common and often disabling problem in breast cancer patients. Estimates indicate that pain is experienced by 25% of newly diagnosed cancer patients and by 60% to90% of patients with advanced cancer. Persistent pain after breast cancer treatment is prevalent, and not all patients respond sufficiently to pharmacological treatment. Pain is recognized as a multidimensional phenomenon, which includes psychological and social components. American Pain Society standards for pain management in cancer recommend both pharmacologic and psychosocial approaches. Methods: This study was a comprehensive literature review performed through searches in databases such as Medline, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Google Scholar using the terms Breast Cancer, Pain management, Psychological intervention, and Cancer treatment . Findings: Results of studies showed psychological interventions include education (with coping skills training), hypnosis, cognitive behavioral approaches, psychosocial supports and relaxation with imagery are affective on reducing pain among patients with breast cancer.Conclusions: According to efficacy of psychological interventions in reducing breast cancer pain, seems multidisciplinary teams are essential in oncology settings to integrate analgesic care and expertise in psychological and behavioral interventions in standard care for symptom management, including pain.

Keywords:

Breast Cancer , Pain management , Psychological intervention , Cancer treatment