Pain management

Pain from mesothelioma is one of the major challenges facing patients and their doctors, and it can have a significant impact on their quality of life. Cancer pain is a chronic, progressive pain that increases in severity over time. Many mesothelioma patients have pain that is unresponsive to conventional medical management.

Symptoms of early stage disease may be experienced by a nagging discomfort or mild pain in the chest area or in the back. As the disease progresses, it destroys soft tissue and nearby nerves, and the patient experiences the most discomfort. Eventually, as the tumor spreads, it grows into the chest, the chest muscles and ribs, causing tissue destruction and severe pain. Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are aimed at stopping the spread of the disease and thus easing the pain; however, these treatments are not pain-free.

The Brigham and Women’s Hospital Pain Management team is a multidisciplinary team whose goal is to bring maximum physical comfort and quality of life to all patients. Treatment is tailored to the needs of the individual patient. The goal is to provide the greatest amount of pain relief with the fewest number of side effects and with the greatest ease of administration.

Today, pain management specialists are providing more relief than ever before, thanks to superior pain management techniques. Some of these techniques include implanting devices, which deliver pain-fighting drugs directly to the central nervous system. Patients no longer responsive to the strongest oral or intravenous pain medications may have a special pain-killing mixture delivered intraspinally (inside of the dural membrane of the spinal cord, but still within the spinal canal). This intrathecal implant reduces the need for in-hospital pain care, allowing the pain to be controlled at home

At the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, eligible patients will have the opportunity to participate in a protocol studying the effectiveness of a three-drug intrathecal (administered into the spine) therapy in the management of pain due mesothelioma.