Smoking aggravates cancer patients' pain--study

Researchers at Texas A&M University have found that smoking exacerbates the pain caused by various types of cancer, from stage I to IV, and the severity interferes with the patients' battle to fight with the deadly disease.

The study, published in the January 2011 issue of the journal 'Pain,' suggests that most of the pain is caused by the pressing of tumor on bones, nerves, and other organs.

Study details
For the present study, the research team analyzed 224 patients with a range of cancer diagnoses.

Patients were asked to complete a self-report in which they had to mark their severity of bodily pain from 'none' to 'very severe' and the degree to which pain interfered with their daily life from 'not at all' to 'extremely.'

Lead researcher Dr Joseph Ditre said, “We hypothesised that, among patients with diverse cancer diagnoses, current smokers would report greater pain, pain interference, and pain-related distress than former smokers and/or never smokers.”

Study findings
It was found that patients who smoked despite their condition experienced severe pain than non-smokers. In fact, such patients complained of more interference from pain compared to non-smokers or former smokers.

The study authors added that the findings of the study hold relevance no matter how advanced the stage of cancer may be.

Further, it was noted that among former smokers, more the years they took to quit smoking, lesser was the pain experienced.

Dr Loria Bastian, from Duke University who wrote an accompanying article to the paper, said, "The major strength of this study is the diverse types of cancer and stage of disease.

“Although more research is needed to understand the mechanisms that relate nicotine to pain, physicians should aggressively promote smoking cessation among cancer patients.

“Preliminary findings suggest that smoking cessation will improve the overall treatment response and quality of life.”