Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathic Pain PDF

Preface

There have been tremendous recent advances in the pharmacotherapy, dose regimens, and combinations used to treat cancer and for the treatment or prevention of spread of disease. As a direct result of these advances, there are an increasing number of cancer survivors. There are currently more than 25 million such survivors worldwide, and it is estimated that the number will grow to 75 million by 2030.

Each and every cancer survivor is forever thankful and appreciative of the advances in chemotherapy and other aspects of prevention, early detection, and treatment modalities that have contributed to the increasing percentage of patients who are surviving the disease. However, no drug, including chemotherapeutic drugs, is devoid of adverse effects. In the case of chemotherapeutic agents, the acute adverse effects are well known, and the chronic adverse effects are only now becoming known due to the increase in survival rates. For some types of cancer, in fact, patients live decades beyond their diagnosis.

It is becoming clear that a significant number of cancer survivors experience neuropathic pain, anxiety and depression, and cognitive (primarily memory) impairment. Together, these adverse effects negatively affect their quality of life and activities of daily living (functionality), and worse, might discourage a decision to receive chemotherapy.

A previous monograph addressed the decreased cognitive acuity (known as chemo-fog or chemo-brain).* This book is devoted to the adverse effects of neuropathic pain. The material that is presented here provides, we believe, the background, state-of-the-art clinical and basic research, and direction for future study.

The authors comprise an impressive list of clinical and basic science experts in the fields of pain mechanisms and pain management. Included are clinical directors of pain clinics and clinical research facilities, directors of large academic pain research laboratories, analgesic drug discoverers, experts in analysis of pain and analgesia clinical and preclinical studies, and presidents of the International Association for the Study of Pain and the British Pain Society. All are opinion leaders in the field of pain and analgesia. They have directed their collective experience and wisdom in this book to the underrecognized and underserved area of chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain. The result is the first comprehensive coverage of the topic by so many experts in a single source. Through them, it is our goal and hope that this book provides the reader with an exceptional opportunity to acquire a fundamental understanding of the basic concepts related to this topic.

We asked the authors to write their chapters so that they can be read independently of the others and in any order desired. We believe that this best serves the readers' interest. As a result, there is some degree of overlap in background material, but we feel that this only enhances the experience and learning of the material.

Finally, we point out that the preparation of this book represents a further step in the work of the Forget-Me-Not Foundation, whose mission is fostering improved care for cancer survivors (http://fmnfoundation.org).

* R.B. Raffa and R.J. Tallarida, eds., Chemo-Fog: Cancer Chemotherapy-Related Cognitive Impairment, Austin, TX: Springer/Landes Publishers, 2010.