Fundamentals of Cancer Pain Management

This book presents a timely and multidisciplinary update on the modalities currently available for treating the most feared symptom of patients diagnosed with cancer. The various cancer pain syndromes are explored in detail, covering those related directly to malignancy and those due to the after-effects of cancer therapy. Treatment modalities, including pharmacologic approaches, interventional procedures, and palliative surgical options, are discussed clearly and concisely, with provision of recommendations for the practitioner. Further topics include new and emerging treatments for cancer pain, survivorship considerations, pain management in special populations, and implementation of systems-based pain programs.

 

The book has been written by a multidisciplinary group of experts, reflecting the evolution in pain and symptom management that has occurred in parallel with progress toward more targeted oncologic treatments. Oncologists, palliative care physicians, allied health professionals, and other practitioners involved in caring for cancer patients will find Fundamentals of Cancer Pain Management to be a rich source of evidence-based insights into effective pain management.

 

Andrew Leitner, MD, is an assistant clinical professor at City of Hope National Medical Center, in the departments of Supportive Care Medicine and Anesthesiology. He is board certified in anesthesiology and interventional pain management and is involved in local and national organizations to advance the practice and science of pain management for cancer patients. Dr. Leitner received his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis, followed by a residency and fellowship at UCLA. His research interests are in postoperative pain, methodology in symptom management, and emerging modalities for pain control. His area of clinical focus is the management of acute and chronic cancer pain. 

 

Christine Chang, MD, is a board-certified expert in interventional pain management and psychiatry. She received her medical degree from the University of Colorado and then completed a psychiatry residency at Mount Sinai Hospital and an interventional pain medicine fellowship at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. She earned her acupuncturist license from the State University of New York. Her research interests are in the fields of cancer rehabilitation, chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, and integrative and complementary medicine for pain and psychiatric conditions. She currently works as a consultant for the NFL and for Traditions Behavioral Health programs and her clinical focus is on populations with complex trauma based pain and psychiatric disease.